After leaving out forward Gift Monday from a second squad on the bounce, Nigeria women’s national team coach Justin Madugu insisted that the Washington Spirit forward remains firmly in his plans.
As the Super Falcons prepare for the Women African Cup of Nations tournament next year, Madugu stressed that NWSL star Monday’s omission for the qualifiers this week was a tactical decision rather than any personal issues.
“I have no issues at all with Gift,” Madugu said in an interview with NigerianFootball. “She is very much part of my plans and will surely play her part in our quest for global success.
“However, we currently have very strong competition for the forward position, considering the incredible form of players like Esther Okoronkwo, Chiwendu Ihezuo, and even Joy Omewa who, despite scoring plenty of goals last season as Denmark‘s top scorer, had to wait for a long time before getting her chance.”
Monday has eight goals for the Spirit so far this season, including a first half hat-trick against Houston Dash in September, which became the new NWSL record for fastest hat-trick from kick off (36 mins), and secured her team’s spot in the NWSL playoffs.
Madugu, who has now led the Super Falcons to qualification for a record appearance at WAFCON, pointed to the difficulty in squad selection, especially given the country’s depth of attack talent.
“It is not an easy decision for us. We are human beings. These players are all our players; they belong to the country,” he said.
“When you have a situation of this nature and you have to pick a certain number from the large pool of players that you have playing for the country, it is not going to be an easy thing.”
He pointed to forward Joy Omewa, who has only recently got her call up despite her remarkable form, as one of the factors that made attacking selection particularly competitive. Omewa has scored in eight consecutive matches for Denmark’s Fortuna Hjorring this season, including in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
“Omewa has already scored in eight consecutive matches this season, including in the Champions League,” Madugu said. “I have no plans to shortchange anyone or take chances when it comes to selecting the best legs for each position.
“We will definitely give Gift a look-in during the upcoming camp, where she can have extended playing time, and we can properly assess her performance and compare with those already on ground.”
Ahead of last WAFCON, Madugu emphasized that each selection is based on merit and tactical balance: “Before we arrived at those decisions that we took, we had to do a proper analysis of the players playing from all those positions, their strengths and weaknesses.
“It was not easy for us leaving out players, not only Gift. There were a lot of other players that we were looking at, even on the home front, but we cannot take beyond a certain number.”
Monday herself told ESPN that Madugu had been in touch with her about leaving her out of the WAFCON roster: “He sent me a message and explained why I was omitted. I don’t want to go into details about that but I appreciated it.”