Racheal Kundananji, Onome EbiBackpagepix

'Nobody is sleeping' - Ebi unsure about Nigeria's African dominance

Onome Ebi is doubtful about Nigeria's chances of maintaining its continental dominance in the coming years following a nervy triumph over South Africa at the 2018 African Women's Cup of Nations.

The reigning African champions failed for the third consecutive attempt to qualify for the Women's Olympic Games after they were knocked out of the qualifiers by Cote d'Ivoire last September.

In 2018, the Super Falcons made a shock losing start in Ghana, with a 1-0 loss to Banyana Banyana but bounced back to edge Desiree Ellis' team after a 4-3 final win via a penalty shoot-out. 

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The 2018 triumph marked Ebi's fourth Awcon title in six appearances, with Nigeria and she later became the first African player to play at five editions of the World Cup in France last year.

Assessing the country's recent poor run of form on the continent, the Henan Huishang defender, who will turn 37 in two weeks, insists they must work hard to remain the best in Africa.

“As we all know, no team is unbeatable these days, it’s not like before when we beat countries 7-0," Onome told Brilla.net.

"It’s really difficult to beat team's 2-0 lately. If we really want to keep our place as best as the best in Africa, we really have to work for it.

"We have to keep training and playing friendly games to keep that standard.

"Nobody is sleeping, every team is training hard, everybody wants to beat Nigeria and be the best in Africa and if we are not ready, someone else will take the title from us."

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