Super Falcons offensive midfielder Toni Payne remains upbeat the South African fans will not intimidate their morale on Tuesday(today), npflupdates.com reports.
Toni Payne is expected to be in the starting squad when the Super Falcons clash with the reigning African champions later today at the Loftus Versfeld stadium Pretoria.
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Nigeria will hope to clinch its first ever Olympics ticket since after 2008 outing in Beijing, China.
The nine-time African champions go into the game with a 1-0 advantage after beating the reigning African champions in Abuja last week.
Speculations has it that Bayana Bayana home fans plan to troop into the 50,000 capacity stadium to show support for their team.
Speaking ahead of the crucial encounter, Payne believes the Falcons have faced tougher home crowd which did not affect them.
Toni Payne talks about Bayana Bayana clash
“We are feeling really prepared we had the whole day to rest so the team is feeling really good,” she said on NFF TV.
“Coming off the win in the last game we have a lot of confidence and there will be improvements.
“I think it’s something to keep in mind obviously when you are away and when you have the crowd against you, it’s something difficult but we’ve come against worst odds we are ready to battle them.”
According to the Sevilla feminine midfielder, it has been her dream team play at the Olympics.
Aside Goalkeeper Tochukwu Oluehi, no other player present in the Super Falcons squad has played at the Olympics.
She added:”It’s been a dream of mine to be at the Olympics and hopefully we can get the ticket.”
The winner between the Super Falcons and South Africa will go straight into Group C in the women’s football event at the 2024 Olympics.
Meanwhile, other teams in Group C are reigning women’s World Cup champions Spain, former World Cup winner Japan and Brazil.
In another story, Super Falcons manager Randy Waldrum, insists his ladies will not sit back and defend their 1-0 lead.
According to the American, the team will go all out and face the South Africans, and reveal why they’re the best team in Africa.
“We don’t want to go there to sit, try to defend and hold on to this victory,” he said. “We want to show we’re the best team in Africa and that we’re a better team.
“I thought we showed that in the first leg and want to do that again when we play South Africa next week.
“I thought we were a bit unfortunate not to have at least two of three goals victory but I think the team played well. I thought we were good defensively considering we had some new players at the back.”
