Falconets 40% ready for World Cup —Dedevbo •Names squad today

Peter Dedevbo, coach of the national U-20 women’s soccer team, the Falconets says the team has only attained only 40 per cent readiness in their preparation for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup scheduled to hold from November 13 to December 3 in Papua New Guinea.

Dedevbo said this on Thursday after the team’s friendly match which they lost 0-1 to the Super Falcons at the National Stadium, Abuja.

He also stated that the World Cup squad will be named today, just as he noted that the friendly against the senior team revealed his team’s weak areas.

“The game revealed that I still have a lot of work to do in all departments of the team.

“I will say that we have gotten 40 per cent out of 100.

“This is also the first time we are playing a female counterpart in a friendly since we resumed camp,” the Delta State-born coach who also led Nigeria to the 2014 edition of the Women’s U-20 World Cup said.

The coach said  that the team’s final list would be out on Saturday (today), even as they would be leaving the country tomorrow.

It will be recalled that Dedevbo had included two members of the Flamingoes squad that participated at the just-ended FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan, captain Rasheedat Ajibade and central defender, Catherine Kenneth into the U-20 World Cup-bound squad.

Meanwhile, coach of the Super Falcons, Florence Omagbemi congratulated her team’s effort in the match.

“I want to congratulate my team’s efforts, even though it was a tune-up match for both teams to get ready for their various tournaments.

”We are still in the process of trying to get a solid team that will represent us in Cameroon, though we are still expecting some of the foreign-based players to resume camp.

“Aside that, we are okay,” she said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Falcons are, however, preparing to defend their title at the African Women Championship, in Cameroon scheduled to hold from November 19 to December 3.