Ugochukwu Iwuchukwu
Head Coach of Reigning Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) Premiership Champions, Rivers Angels, Edwin Okon says his side are ready to take on their group opponents at the WAFU B qualifiers slated for July 17 to 30 in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
Draws for the tournament was made on Monday morning and the Jewel of Rivers were placed alongside Hasaacas Ladies FC (Ghana) and AS Police de Niamey (Niger).
Okon said the grouping was something he was already used to and playing in such a league is a norm.
The former Super Falcons coach said his girls are aware of the task ahead of them and are prepared to face it.
“The draws are very okay and it is like the league format over here,” he began.
“We are fully prepared and from my experience, football is not arithmetic like some of you think.
“It takes adequate preparation for you to achieve your set target and that is exactly what we’re all about right now.
“The girls have been training for a while now and we’ve had a couple of games to prepare them so we are good to go,” added Okon.
One of his group opponents, Hasaacas Ladies have been in club competition since the NWFL ended over here. Asked if this would serve as an added advantage to the Ghanaian side, Okon admitted it was a good one for them but believes his side’s less competitive games won’t deter them.
“It’s very true that the Ghanaian side have had more games than we did here for preparation,” he continued.
“We didn’t get much quality friendly matches but what we got was good enough.
“We are doing all we can to put the girls in the right frame of mind and shape going forward,” Okon summed.
Rivers Angels opening game will be against Hasaacas Ladies FC on July 17 by 7pm local time.
