October 25, (THEWILL) – The Nigerian women’s national football team played out a 1-1 draw with Ethiopia in the first leg of their CAF Olympic qualification match in Addis Ababa on Wednesday.
Rasheedat Ajibade captained the Super Falcons and scored their only goal, striking from long range in the 49th minute to equalise after the home side had taken an early lead through Birkie Amare.
The match was Nigeria’s first game since their World Cup quarter-final defeat on penalties to England earlier this year. Manager Randy Waldrum was absent due to commitments with the University of Pittsburgh women’s team.
Ethiopia had initially gone ahead when Amare capitalised on a corner kick after just five minutes. Nigeria came close to equalising in the 27th minute but Gift Monday’s effort was blocked by the Ethiopian defense. In the 92nd minute, Ifeoma Onumonu had the ball in the net but it was ruled out for offside.
In the end, the Super Falcons had to settle for a draw. The two teams will meet again in the second leg on Tuesday, next week.
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
