As the Super Falcons of Nigeria battles the Bayana Bayana of South Africa this weekend at the qualifiers of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the Head coach of the Nigerian team Randy Waldrum has continually expressed confidence in the ability of  his team to qualify for the games, afterthe the double header encounter.

The American did not under rate the potentials of the South Africans who are the defending champions of the Women’s African Cup of Nations, having won the last edition in Morocco in 2022.

Desiree Ellis’s side has some handful of wins over the Nigerians in recent meetings.

Both teams will meet again in the final round of the Olympic qualifiers with the first leg slated for Abuja on Friday.

“South Africa is a very good side. They are defending African champions, and we have to respect them,” Waldrum remarked.

“They have a lot of individual talents up front, where they are dangerous, and the coach has them very organized.

“But I have a lot of confidence in my players”, he told NFF TV.

The South African team arrived early to Nigeria and also prepared better than their Nigerian counterpart, but Waldrum remains unfazed,

”We can’t really worry about what they are doing, we have to just focus on the task and the job we have and make sure that our players are prepared for their roles and responsibilities before Friday match,” the American tactician said.

Ashleigh Plumptre and Oluwatosin Demehin are out of the game due to injury. Waldrum conveyed his well wishes for their recovery.

“first of all our thoughts and prayers are with those two players, they are both vitally important players to us, they are two mainstays in our defence and its a big loss not to have those two. But my first thoughts and concerns are just them getting healthy and making sure they’re gonna be okay.

“I think as coaches, we always have to have a Plan B and we’ve been working on those plans and I think we have players that are ready to step in and replace them and do a good job for us, so I have confidence in the depth of our squad.”