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New Super Falcons captain Ebi hints at retirement, calls Australia-New Zealand 2023 'my last World Cup'

In 2019, Ebi became the first African footballer to play in 5 FIFA World Cups: 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, and the 2019 tournaments.
Onome Ebi
Onome Ebi

Super Falcons captain and defender Onome Ebi has revealed that the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup might be her last with the senior women's national team.

While speaking in a video interview with the Super Falcons media team, Ebi described Australia and New Zealand's co-hosted tournament, as "my last World Cup."

"By the grace of God if I make my last World Cup, I'm saying my last World Cup because I don't know what God would do, but in my last World Cup we might go first, second, third and I trust my girls."

The 38-year-old Minsk defender was part of the Super Falcons squad for the just-concluded tour in Canada, which saw the team lose the first meeting in Vancouver, 2-0 and draw 2-2 in the second in Langford.

The two-match tour was part of the team's preparations for the 2022 Women Africa Cup of Nations (AWCON) finals taking place in Morocco between July 2 to July 23.

Ebi, who led the team in both games against the Olympic champions, believes that more grade-A friendlies: organized by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), can help the Falcons go far at the AWCON and even go on to win next year's World Cup.

"If we have more of this kind of friendlies, I believe there's nothing God cannot do and I believe in God because I'm a Christian. We can win the World Cup, first, second, third, give it to us. I'm aiming towards that.

“I want to thank the NFF for their support all through our invitational tournaments right from Turkey to the US, and many others and now, Canada,” Ebi said in the video published on the Super Falcons Twitter handle.

Ebi was recently handed captaincy of the Super Falcons after Asisat Oshoala was stripped of it by the NFF.

Oshoala who had been the team's captain since 2019, was stripped of it just before the tour in Canada after the NFF and coach Randy Waldrum, claimed that it was taking a toll on her.

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