Mabo hopes for better Olympic outing

“If you people watched that game you would see that the South Africans were this close to being slaughtered. The ball possession ratio was cleary in our favour, and the shots at goal showed that if our shooting was more on target we could have won by a scandalous margin.”

The elderly Coach also promised a major shake up in his team saying many players who were part of the qualifiers may not make it to the games proper if they do not improve on their performance.

“Its obvious that we must take the best Nigerian team to the Olympic games and a lot of these players may not make the final cut if they do not improve on their game. Besides, I will also take out time to look at players in the league.”

Hails Vera Okolo

Goal scorer in that Abuja clash, Vera Okolo also received plaudits for her impressive performance on the night.

Coach Mabo described the pint sized attacker as one of the revelations of his team saying she could go a long way in the game if she keeps her head.

Vera Okolo also scored the second goal in the first leg 2-2 draw against the Banyana Banyana.

Advocates for more slots for Africa

Ismiala Mabo is also advocating more slots for Africa in future Olympic games as a result of the massive growth of the game on the continent.
“It can be discouraging to do as well as the South Africans have done only to have to wait another four years for another chance at the Olympic Games. In the World Cup, Africa now has two slots and that has been good for our game. That is why I am hoping for a good outing at the Olympics as that will catalyze our push for another slot.”

Nigeria’s Super Falcons will be playing in her second Olympic Games and with a not too impressive qualifying run, fans in the country have expressed pessimism on their chances in Athens.

Coach Mabo recently made public a list of 30 players for the Falcons 24th April friendly against England.