Nigeria’s Super Falcons bagged a record seventh African Women’s Championship title with a 2-1 win over the Lionesses of Cameroon as curtains fell on the event, hosted for the first time, by Namibia.

The Super Falcons, pregame favourites, did not disappoint their fans as they started things off with a goal in the early moments of the game as Desire Oparanozie, who went home with the Golden Shoe award, scored from a remarkable free-kick to put Nigeria ahead. It did not get much better for the Cameroonians as they went into half-time down by two goals and with little hope of launching a comeback as the Super Falcons of Nigeria increasingly looked the more superior and better side.

The win once again firmly cemented Nigeria’s place a leading light in African female football and given the reassuring displays put on show by the Super Falcons, it could well remain so for some time to come. The Super Falcons have a younger team who look set to dominate for the next decade or so. Led by the prodigiously talented Asisat Oshoala, the rest of Africa will be looking to the Super Falcons to attempt to conquer the world at the 2015 FIFA Women World Cup in Canada.

The Falcons will be joined by losing finalists, Cameroon and third place playoff champions Ivory Coast who triumphed over the Bayana Bayana of South Africa with a 1-0 win to secure a place at the World Cup.

Falcons

Many will regard the African Women’s Championships as a resounding success with Namibia standing tall as hosts as there were very few disapproving mentions of Namibia’s facilities and preparation- just reward given Namibia’s difficult but ultimately successful preparation process. While stadium attendances were once again notoriously low, African football is steadily looking better and with FIFA increasing CAF’s allocation at the Women’s World Cup by one more slot to three, it appears the world’s football governing body is also taking note.

With the hosts Namibia receiving satisfactory pass marks, the real trajectory of development in African football will be measured when the Nigerian, Cameroonian and Ivorian teams square up against opponents from all over the world at the FIFA Women’s World Cup next year. Regardless, the continent will be quite confident of making a bigger statement than they have in the past.

Going forward however, CAF will have to devote a lot of time to capacity building and training programmes to increase the number of women involved in female football behind the scenes. Also, working closely with local FAs to build stronger and more competitive female football leagues will be crucial to unearthing some of Africa’s next generation of talents to increase Africa’s chances of truly competing and matching the rest of the world.

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