Houij wary of ‘most decorated’ Nigeria ahead of WAFCON showdown
- Dennis Kegengo
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Tunisia striker Mariem Houij has admitted that her team are concerned about facing Nigeria’s Super Falcons in their opening match of the CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco.
The North Africans will face Nigeria in their opener, aiming for a positive start to boost their chances of challenging defending champions South Africa, who won the title in the 2022 edition.
“Nigeria is the most decorated team in the WAFCON. In the last edition, they were eliminated in the semifinals by host nation Morocco,” Houji told CAFOnline.
“We beat Botswana in a friendly last year in Tunis. As for Algeria, their playing style is similar to ours, and we’ve won both of our recent matches against them. That said, official matches are completely different from friendlies. Our coaching staff is analysing every opponent in detail to prepare us well.”
On her expectations for Tunisia in the tournament, she said: “We want to deliver a strong performance and reach the knockout stages. In the last edition, we made it past the group stage for the first time in 12 years before being knocked out by the defending champions, South Africa.
“That was a major step forward. Now, we aim to go even further and make our country proud. The ideal scenario would be reaching the final.
"We have a strong, long-standing group that has been reinforced with new players due to the postponement of the 2024 edition to 2025. We’re ready to take on the challenge and give Tunisia—and the entire continent—a memorable performance.”
Tunisia are in Group B with the Super Falcons, Algeria and Botswana.
The tournament kicks off in Morocco on July 5, and the North Africans will face Super Falcons in Casablanca on Sunday, July 6, with matches against Algeria and Botswana following.
