Onome Ebi, the Super Falcons captain, has spoken out against those who think she ought to have left the Super Falcons when she turns 40 in May.
Onome Ebi who is presently 39 years and 15 days away from turning 40, has come under fire.
Despite the fact that she is just a few games shy of a century of appearances for Nigeria and has been in five World Cups, making her the first African player to do so, she is not worried about her age.
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After a dismal tenure in which she only made one appearance for Levante Las Planas, the former Duvenciler Lisesispor center-back, who had only been with the Spanish club for four months, was let go.
It is considered that her age had a significant part in her ability to give an excellent performance for her team when she was younger.
However, Onome Ebi, who has been said to be ageing and cannot deliver too much of performance as indicated to Beatsandrhymesfc that she doesn’t feel the age restriction and is fully capable of playing additional games.
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“Honestly, I don’t know how I feel like this! I honestly don’t understand why I don’t feel the age thing.
“If you see me and the way I play, you would never believe I’m that age. I look at myself in the mirror sometimes and I say to myself, ‘What am I doing differently that’s making me still be this fit?!’
“I don’t feel it, that’s the thing. When I’m home, and I’m on break, I train with the guys, so the way I match with them, it’s unbelievable to me sometimes.
“I ask myself, ‘Is this you? Are you even aging at all?’ I know, yeah, there will be a time that I must quit this game, I must retire, but when I don’t feel it, when I feel so fresh, I feel like I want to train every day.” she said.
The Super Falcons have been seeded to play Australia, Canada, and the Republic of Ireland in their world cup event, which will take place in New Zealand.
When Onome Ebi was asked her age in more detail, the Bayelsa Queens legend explained that she performs important duties on her team, which has allowed her to maintain her spot in the starting lineup. As a result, Onome Ebi will continue to play until she chooses to retire.
“I don’t see any reason (to stop), unless I make that decision myself. All my life playing, I’ve never been a reserve player, I’ve never been on the bench, and that should show people that ‘this lady is giving something, that’s why they’re using her.’
“If I start feeling, ‘Okay, it’s time to step down,’ I will make that decision myself, because I don’t want to get to a stage where young ones start messing me up on the pitch. I feel okay right now, so…we’ll see!” Onome Ebi added.
Onome Ebi will lead the Super Falcons against the co-hosts
Nigeria will tackle Olympic champions Canada, and co-hosts Australia and the Republic of Ireland in the group stage of the biggest FIFA Women’s World Cup finals ever, in group B of the tournament that begins on 20th July.
Australia & New Zealand 2023 is the first time that the FIFA Women’s World Cup will welcome 32 teams. This is the same number as the men’s tournament.
Onome Ebi’s Falcons will be domiciled in Brisbane where they will play two of their three matches, with the other game in another Australian city, Melbourne.
Nigeria is in the elite group of only seven countries that have never failed to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
They have appeared in every edition of the competition since it was launched in China 32 years ago.
