Speaking shortly after leading her girls to victory at the Sinama Stadium, coach Eucharia Uche said she told her girls to concentrate on their game not minding the size and stature of their opponents, who looked more like men than women.
“We came here to win and we won,” she said. “A lot of people were afraid that we would lose because of what they had seen of the Guineans, but our determination to succeed ensured we haboured no fear.”
Apart from winning the trophy, the Falcons also took the top scorer award, won by Perpetua Nkwocha, who scored 11 goals, the most valuable player award and fair play trophy. An elated debutant Ugochi Oparanozie, who was playing in her first AWC, described the victory as the highlight of her young career.
She added that it would serve as a big boost to their campaign at Germany 2010 FIFA Women World Cup: “We were determined to win this trophy and we gave it our best shot,” Oparanozie said. “We never doubted our ability to beat Equatorial Guinea in spite of what people said about them.
“Now that we are African champions, we pray that we will continue our training so that we will represent the continent well in Germany.”
A disappointed coach of Equatorial Guinea, Jean-Paul Mpila, lamented the two own-goals his team conceded in the game, saying the goals contributed to their failure to retain the trophy. He moaned: “We are disappointed to have lost this match because we came to win. The two own-goals we conceded due to the strong wind hurt us.”
In the third place match played earlier before the final, South Africa beat Cameroun 2-0 to win the bronze thanks to goals from Nocawe Skiti and Amanda Dlamini.
Source:http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29256:falcons-attribute-success-to-hardwork-determination&catid=59:home&Itemid=620
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