SUPER Falcons head coach Randy Waldrum has expressed his displeasure at the unavoidable absence of the duo of Ashleigh Plumptre and Halimat Ayinde who, sadly, won’t be part of his team at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
He however went on to state that he has got suitable replacements for them.
According to Coach Rany: “The good thing about having a national team is having experienced players and the young ones coming up to replace them when ready.
“Right now, we have a good blend of experienced players and young ones, and I think they are going to have a great future with the team.
“When you lose Ashleigh Plumptre and Halimatu Ayinde, they are two world-class players tough for any team to lose, especially two of them. But then, the thing we preach to our players all along is that somebody else has to step up and replace them, and I think we saw that with Chidinma Okeke coming in at left-back for Plumptre when she was out against Cameroon and South Africa.
“I think right now it’s a good thing we have some depth in midfield, players like Deborah Abiodun and Toni Payne. It’s still a solid midfield. We have other players; Echegini can play in there, and Ajibade can play in there. So, even though we lose some players, we have some depth in there.
“It certainly has to happen; I feel bad for them for not going to the Olympics.”
Falcons take on their counterparts from Brazil in the group opener later today at 6 pm Nigeria time.
Eighteen-Eleven Media