Izilein takes over Super Falcons 'B'

Eucharia Uche, a former international with several caps for the Women national team, Super Falcons and a trainer with Nigeria's reigning Women Soccer League Champions Delta Queens of Asaba, will also work as an assistant with Izilein.

A statement weekend by spokesman of Nigeria Football Association Women Division, Bassey Koma, also said another soon to named assistant would be named this week to join the technical bench of Izilien.

Nigeria are presenting a weak ‘Super Falcons B’ team to face the Lionesses in qualifying series for a new trophy donated by Stella Obasanjo, wife of President Olusegun Obasanjo after the Falcons retired the old trophy in 2002 when they won it a third consecutive time in Warri, Delta state Nigeria.

Chairman of NFA Women Football Development Committee, Alhaja Ayo Omidiran said in Abuja that already, Izilien has swung into action with the invitation of 45 players who are expected to report at the National Institute for Sports, (NIS) Lagos on Tuesday.

"There is little time to waste" she said. "We cannot underrate any team in the continent today seeing the way the game has developed. There are no more underdogs anymore so we have to take the match against Senegal seriously"

The NFA, Koma said has also called in it’s longest serving Women goalkeeper Ann Chiejine-Agumanu to act as the Welfare Officer of the Super Falcons B team.

Koma said “Izilein's first task will be to prune down the invited list of 45 to a manageable 25 within first three days of the screening exercise.” Players invited include those who failed to make the cut in the Athens 2004 Olympics bound Super Falcons and the Falconets (Under 19 team) who take on Equatorial Guinea in the African leg of the FIFA U-19 Women Championship qualifier this weekend.

Nigeria resorted to using a less fancied ‘B’ side against Senegal following the refusal of the Sports Ministry to release players of the senior team now camping in Stuttgart, Germany preparatory to their maiden Olympics Women Soccer appearance in Athens next August.