NewzBy Douglas Baye-Osagie dbayeosagie@yahoo.com The Super Falcons are in the Quarter finals and are up against the Lionesses of Cameroon for a Semi Final spot and an automatic World Cup ticket in the ongoing WAFCON. The moment things get uncomfortable, we conclude that the local coach “doesn’t know his work.” Every Nigerian is tactical and can read a match. We rate foreign coaches higher by default, even when the results and context are the same.
If this were a European coach with the same record, we would be calling it “rotation” and “tournament management.” Justin Madugu is not being judged on tactics alone. He is being judged because he is Nigerian. The truth is, African women’s football has come of age.
Who would have thought Nigeria would be needing calculators to qualify from a WAFCON group that has debutants Malawi and Egypt? Both teams were only in the tournament because it expanded from 12 to 16 teams. That is not because Nigeria got worse overnight.
It is because everyone else got better. Cameroon, Zambia, South Africa, Morocco — they are all professional now. They have structures, data, and players in Europe.
The days of walking through group stages are gone. In April I wrote an article that went viral titled “ SUPER FALCONS DESERVE BETTER.” I expressed doubt that the NFF had set this team up to succeed. Here are two paragraphs from that article: “Elite performance is built on elite preparation.
They are tactical laboratories where coaches test formations, bed in new talent, and measure their squad against varied styles of play. Right now, the Falcons’ 2026 calendar shows just a double-header vs Cameroon in February and March. That is a recipe for rust, not readiness.” “The concern is sharper because the rest of Africa is not standing still.
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