Onumonu: ‘No access to a gym in camp, the pitches aren’t great, the grass is rocky, bumps everywhere’

Super Falcons forward, Ifeoma Onumonu has revealed the harrowing experience they went through before securing the ticket to play at their ninth straight FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The Nigerians exited the competition at the round of 16 to England in a penalty shootout and Onumonu believes this is the time for the players to fight for an enabling environment, to ‘fight for something bigger’.

‘[Back home] the [pitches] aren’t great. The grass is rocky, bumps everywhere. The stadium we play on for qualifying – you’d be surprised. I
was surprised. You don’t even know where the ball is going to jump at you.

‘Our under‑20s went far in their World Cup and when they were sent home they were sleeping in airports for 24 hours. That’s not acceptable. What we have to
fight for is bigger for us,’ she said.

Onumonu says the team’s’lack of resources’ was glaring during their campaign down under.

‘I’ve seen what [resources] England have access to,’ said the forward, who plays her club football for NJ/NY Gotham FC in the US.’In Nigeria we don’t have
access to much. Our training fields aren’t great. Where we sleep isn’t great. Sometimes we share beds.

‘It’s not good enough. In terms of recovery, we don’t have much of any of that. We don’t have access to a gym in camp in Nigeria.

‘There’s a lot that needs to be done. Hopefully more people start to talk about it. Coming here it’s hard to adjust. We do what we can because we love
playing for our country but hopefully they make it easier for us to do our best.’