Cameroon 2016: Ex-coach warns Super Falcons

Former Super Falcons coach, James Peters, has said the team will find it difficult to defend their title  at the  Cameroon 2016 CAF African Women’s Cup of Nations which begins on Saturday. Nigeria, who have won the tournament seven times, are seeking their eighth title in Cameroon.The Falcons are drawn in Group B against Kenya, Ghana and Mali. They will play their first match on Sunday against the Malians. Peters told our correspondent on Thursday,   “The Falcons are favourites to win the title and their group looks relatively easy but they will not have it easy as they have been having in the past because there are no longer  minnows  in African women’s football.“The Malians and the Kenyans may be the easier of their opponents in  the group stages but the Ghanaians will  be tough  opponents. As the Falcons  progress in the competition, it will get tougher for them to beat their opponents.”The former Flying Eagles coach  added, “The qualifiers for the competition  has shown  that the Falcons cannot overrun any team again on the continent because the other countries have also groomed stronger teams than before. The  Falcons   didn’t prepare adequately for this tournament.“While some countries were busy playing friendly matches on the continent, the girls were just in camp training and playing local sides. The days when the  Falcons were feared are gone. Every team will take pride in beating Nigeria at the competition. The teams have nothing to lose when playing against Nigeria, so they will put everything into the match.”The Falcons have only lost the title twice to Equatorial Guinea ”“ 2008 and 2012.Meanwhile,  the  Falcons have been promised a great time in Cameroon as they prepare to defend their title.The representative of the Governor of the Littoral region, Etienne   Ngbwa,  received the team  on arrival at the Douala International Airport on  Wednesday night.“I am here to bring the goodwill message of the governor to you. To welcome the Nigerian contingent to Cameroon and wish the team a successful outing at the Women AFCON,” the NFF’s official website quoted Ngbwa as saying on Thursday.