By Ebube Dike

Super Falcons Assistant coach, Maureen Mmaddu has stated that the reigning Africa champions are in Cote D’Ivoire for the West Africa Football Union Zone B Women’s Cup to do Nigeria proud, Bestchoicesports.com.ng can report

Coach Mmadu, a former Falcons midfielder in an interview monitored, commended the Nigeria Football Federation for giving the team the maximum support ahead of 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France next month

You defeated Niger 15-0 in your last match, what did the magic?

It was a massive game, the girls really played very well. The players did their best. We told them to go there and do the nation proud and they did that.

With the performance of the ladies in the Cup, are you having selection headache for the world Cup?

Everybody is playing well. It is a tough decision. The chief coach said it that some of the players are good to fit in for the World Cup and we want to use this tournament to see what happens. It is really difficult right now because all the players are doing well and this is a huge plus for us ahead of the World Cup.

Have other countries caught up with Nigeria in women football or have we slowed down?

No. it is not that we are slowing down. If they are slowing down, NFF will not be able to sponsor us for us to go for a lot of competitions this year. But I think other countries are trying to catch up because if you share a national cake, everybody would like to have a share of it. So they are trying to catch up with us and we are aware of that and that is why NFF is doing everything possible to make sure that we continue to move higher and higher

Compare the World Cup preparations to your playing days, what is the difference?

Like I have said previously even the chief coach too, we know that NFF have done a great thing for us. It has never been like this in my playing days. They have really done their best to motivate us. They have mapped out time and resources for us to go to different friendly games. They have been very supportive. I must confess that when I played for the team, it was not like this. I must give kudos to the NFF because they really did their best to make sure that we prepared for the World Cup very well.

As an ex player, how do you impact on the players, who does what in the camp, for instance payers?

As an ex player of the team, I am doing my best because I have been there before. The key thing I tell them is that they should never be satisfied in whatever they are doing. If you played very well today, tomorrow I expect you to play better.

And when you talk about prayer, we don’t joke with that of course. We cannot do without worshiping God. I tell them to give their best every day because they never knew who is on the side-line watching them.

I push them to do their best and also know that to whom much is given, much is also expected from her. I also let them know that there is no shortcut to success in life in any endeavour. We pray but we have to pray and work hard. Manna cannot fall from heaven if you don’t pray and work hard to achieve your target. I told them daily to give out their best in the trainings and matches. Listen to instructions and be disciplined. They should not try to cheat at any point

How is the Weather in Cote D’Ivoire like?

The weather has been terribly hot. I don’t know but it could be 4o degrees. It is so hot. The girls, even the chief coaches, all of us are complaining but there is nothing we can do. We have to go out and do our nation proud but it is really so hot here in Cote D’Ivoire

The match against Mali on Tuesday, what are we expecting?

We will take it one match at a time. Like the chief coach normally tell us that we have to go there and do our best. It is like one having five slices of bread, we have taken two, we have three left. So the technical crew have told the players not to relent but to go out their and do their best. We have taken two out of five, the next one is the third one. Therefore, we will take it one after the other. We will take each match as it comes but we are going to make our country proud. Nigerians should keep praying for and supporting us we are here to do our nation proud.