Nigeria are looking to build on a positive 2023

The Super Falcons are still under the guidance of Randy Waldrum, who is putting off-field frustrations aside to focus on a talented group of players...

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After breakfast in their team hotel, Nigeria head coach Randy Waldrum goes for a walk along the bustling Bordeaux riverside with his assistant Kyle Quigley, taking in their new surroundings ahead of Thursday’s Paris 2024 Olympic Games opener against Brazil.

It’s an unlikely allyship. An American college coach and a Northern Irishman living in West Yorkshire, England, in charge of one of Africa’s top nations, but it’s a friendship and working relationship which has blossomed, and certainly helped get the best out of the talent the country has to offer.

At last summer’s World Cup, the Super Falcons shone throughout, drawing first with defending gold medallists Canada, then stunning Australia in their own backyard before taking European champions – and eventual finalists – England all the way to penalties.

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Since then, it hasn’t been all plane-sailing. Contract disputes meant both Waldrum and Quigley missed camps and games in the immediacy post-tournament, and they are regularly fighting fires behind the scenes to avoid further disorganisation, but on the pitch are confident of further success, even if they have been put in an unenviable group alongside not just Brazil, but world champions Spain and former world champions Japan.

“Thanks for reminding us,” laughs Quigley, sat in the lobby of their hotel before they leave for a training session at a local Bordeaux club to continue their preparations.

“People said we had the ‘Group of Death’ at the World Cup, so what do you call this?” quips Waldrum, who duels his role as Nigeria head coach with a head coach role at the University of Pittsburgh.