FIFA World Cup - Falcons In Focus

The 2014 African Confederation Champion, Nigeria finished second to Germany in last summer’s U-20 championships in Canada and the nation’s women’s national team program could be hitting a purple patch.

Nigeria has the talent to easily slip into the quarterfinals or even beyond.

Desire Oparanozie (Guingamp, France) and Asisat Oshoala (River Angels in Port Harcourt, Nigeria) scored the goals for Nigeria with a 2-0 win over Cameroon in the African Final.

The 20-year-old Oshoala finished with four goals in that tournament, one behind teammate Desire Oparanozie.

Oshoala won the Golden Ball as the African Championship’s best player, to go with her Golden Ball award from the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada last summer.

She also won the Golden Boot in Canada as the top scorer.

You can't also rule out the leadership qualities of skipper Evelyn Nwabuoku, whose versatility makes her to be counted as a true professional

If the Nigeria Football Federation can avoid turmoil over arrangements, visas and bonuses which have plagued them in the past, then they have a very good chance for a semifinal spot next summer, a laudable achievement for a nation that in six previous World Cup appearances advanced beyond the Group Stage only once, losing in the quarterfinals in the U.S. in 1999.