All-or-nothing ahead of AWCON qualifier in Cote d'Ivoire, Waldrum reveals Nigeria's plan

Ahead of the second leg of their Women's Africa Cup of Nations (AWCON) qualifiers, the Super Falcons have arrived, settled in, and are acclimatizing to Abidjan - the venue of their all-important fixture with Cote d'Ivoire.

In the first leg of their final qualifying match for the AWCON, played in Abuja, goals from Ifeoma Onumonu in either half gave coach Randy Waldrum's side a 2-0 advantage.

Now, with one game separating the 11-time African champions from Morocco, the host country for the AWCON, the Super Falcons know that they must do all they can to win, or at the very least protect their aggregate lead against the Lady Elephants. 

Despite a dismal record against the Ivorians, Waldrum reiterated that history has nothing on them after the Super Falcons' 2-0 victory in the first leg.

"Past history had nothing to do with what we did," the 65-year-old tactician said after the game. "It didn't matter what happened in the past, it's a different group of players and a different coaching staff, so we can't be concerned with the past".

Prior to the first leg in Abuja, the Super Falcons were on a mission to keep away the ghosts of games past. They had gone on a run of five matches, spread over seven years, without a victory over Cote d'Ivoire in regular time.

The only win in that span - a victory at the 2019 WAFU Cup final in Abidjan - came via penalty shootout.

While that might have seemed bad, they also had the horror of failing to keep a clean sheet hanging over them. Four of these five games against Cote d'Ivoire, in which they failed to win or keep a clean sheet, were home games for the Super Falcons.

But an all-round display from the team that saw them win 2-0 not only lent credence to Waldrum's 'it's a different group of players and a different coaching staff' statement, but also put them in the driver's seat ahead of the second leg.

"I do feel very positive about the second leg, but we only know we've done half the job. We know we were fully capable of getting a result at home, we have to be prepared to get the result on the road."

Waldrum is of the notion that the Super Falcons can, again, soar over their poor record against the Ivorians when they line up in Abidjan for the second leg. 

After the first leg, the former Trinidad and Tobago manager indicated that he understands the Lady Elephants will be a tough test for his team.

Unperturbed, he revealed the Super Falcons would be executing one task - above all - in Abidjan: to make things more difficult for Cote d'Ivoire.

"We have to go in, to their place, on the front foot. We can't go in there and sit back and try to hold the two-goal lead. We understand that if we get a goal there [in Abidjan], that makes it very difficult for them. We'd go after the win."

In recent history, Cote d'Ivoire have been a bitter taste in the mouth of Nigerians as they were responsible for denying the nation's presence at the 2020 Olympics women's football event, following a penalty shootout win.

In the first qualifying round of the 2022 AWCON, Ivory Coast decimated the Niger Republic 20-0 on aggregate, compared to Nigeria's 2-1 aggregate win over Ghana. 

The aggregate winner of this qualifying pairing of Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire will proceed to participate in the AWCON in Morocco in July 2022.

The women's continental tournament is expected to double as the African qualifiers to the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.

The top four teams at the AWCON will then qualify for the World Cup, with two more teams proceeding to the inter-confederation play-offs to seek a place in the Australia/New Zealand 2023.