TheCable

The Super Falcons will get a whopping $250, 000 from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) if they make the final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada.

Amaju Pinnick, president of the NFF, made the pledge when he visited the team in the company of Seyi Akinwunmi the federation’s first vice-president and Shehu Dikko chairman of League Management Company (LMC).

“I am telling you girls in all sincerity. If you get to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, I am giving you $50,000. A spot in the semi-finals will earn you the sum of $100,000 and if you get to the final, I am indebted to you to the sum of $250, 000,” he said.

“I have absolute faith in you. You have done this nation proud on several occasions, winning seven African Women Championship titles out of nine editions. You are daughters of glory and I see you performing beyond expectation at the World Cup.”

The Super Falcons have featured in six World Cups and their best performance was achieved in 1999 when they got to the quarter-finals in the United States of America. They lost 4-3 to Brazil after extra time.

And Pinnick knows it won’t be an easy task in Canada as well.

“It will not be easy, but nothing good comes easy,” he said.

“Beautiful roses grow on thorny plants. You are going to play the likes of Sweden and the United States of America, powerhouses in women’s football. But it should be in the back of your minds that Nigeria is also a powerhouse in women’s football, a serious one for that matter.

“There will be plenty of odds, but that’s an everyday thing in life. Odds are meant to propel you to go higher, move faster and become stronger.”

The Falcons will depart Nigeria on Tuesday for a 16-day training camp in Toronto, ahead of the 7th FIFA Women’s World Cup finals.