Nigeria’s Super Falcons are through to the semi-final of the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations after they defeated a spirited Cameroon side 1-0 in the quarter-final on Thursday evening in Casablanca.
Rasheedat Ajibade was the standout performer and heroine again for the Falcons after her excellent second-half header proved to be the decisive winner.
In what was the 13th meeting between the archrivals, Nigeria and Cameroon, it was the defending champions who dominated the opening 45 minutes but failed to make it count as it ended goalless at the break.
Nigeria had seven attempts but failed to register any on target while the Indomitable Lionesses had their only effort on target.
In the second half, Nigeria started from where they stopped, on the front foot, and 12 minutes into the half, the Falcons broke the deadlock.
Striker Ifeoma Onumonu found herself free on the right and delivered an excellent cross which found Ajibade free in the Cameroon box and the Atletico Madrid forward powered home to put Nigeria in front.
The goal was her third (3rd) in the competition, moving her joint top scorer in the WAFCON 2022.
Nigeria held on to book their ticket to the last four and will face a tricky tie against Morocco.
Nigeria has now maintained her record of appearing at every FIFA Women’s World Cup after the Super Falcons’ win against Cameroon in the WAFCON quarter-final.
