BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Even before the kick-off of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, Nigeria’s Super Falcons have already shot into the record books.
At 40 years, Skipper Onome Ebi is the oldest of the 736 players featuring at the championship holding in the famed ‘Down-Under’ countries of Australia and New Zealand. The Nigeria centre-back is however not the only 40 year old in the competition.
Canada’s Christine Sinclair is another 40 year old player, but is 35 days younger than Onome Ebi. So when Nigeria and Canada meet in Melbourne on Friday, the two oldest players of the tournament could square off.
In the case of Sinclair, she is even three years older than her coach, Bev Priestman. Christine Sinclair has 190 international goals to her name – astonishingly more than 21 of the 31 other 23-players squads combined!
The only squads whose players have more cumulative national-team goals than the Canada legend are Australia, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Korea Republic, Netherlands, Sweden, USA and Vietnam.
Only two players in their 40s have appeared in the competition: USA defender Christie Rampone and Brazil midfielder Formiga, who was 41 years and 112 days when she became the oldest player in the tournament’s history.
