Gladiators prepare for Falcons

THE senior national women’s football team is putting final touches to their preparations for the 2012 Olympic Games’ qualifier against Nigeria on Saturday here at the Sam Nujoma Stadium.

In their first-leg qualifier a fortnight ago in Abuja, Nigeria, the Brave Gladiators, as the Namibian senior women’s team is known, lost by 0-7, and they now have a mammoth task to beat Nigeria by 8-0 in order to proceed to the next round of the competition.Brave Gladiators assistant coach Golla van Staden said his charges are young, compared to the Super Falcons from Nigeria who are more experienced and better prepared, tactically and technically.’It is going to be a tough match and difficult to beat Nigeria, but we will certainly not allow them to beat us by a high margin like in Abuja,’ stressed Van Staden.The final training session for the Gladiators will be on Thursday at the Sam Nujoma Stadium.Meanwhile, the SuperSport.com on Tuesday reported that Super Falcons’ head coach, Eucharia Uche, will use only home-based players for the second-leg qualifier against the Brave Gladiators.The former Nigerian international said she was sure the local players would get the job done against the Brave Gladiators.’It is a pity that the foreign-based players would not be in Namibia, but this is a chance for the home girls to show the stuff they are made of,’ Uche told SuperSport.com.Anything short of that and the Nigerians would progress to the next round where they will meet the winners of the Cameroon/Equatorial Guinea tie in round three.She added: ‘We are not worried over the next round or who will progress from that tie. All we are interested in is our result in Namibia and then we can take it up from there.’After the business of qualifying for the Olympic Games, the Falcons will then settle down for the small matter of picking up a ticket for the 2011 All Africa Games in September in Mozambique. – Nampa

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