Nigeria vs Burundi: Ajibade, Kanu fire Super Falcons to WAFCON quarterfinals

• Nigeria beat Burundi 4-0 to progress to the quarterfinal of WAFCON where they face rivals Cameroon
• Uchenna Kanu grabbed a brace in the encounter as Ajibade and Efih also found the back of the net
• Nigeria finish second in Group C with six points behind South Africa who topped the group with nine points

The Super Falcons of Nigeria cruised into the quarterfinals of the Women's Africa Cup of Nation after a convincing win against Burundi in their final group game.

Ajibade gets the ball rolling

Atletico Madrid forward Rasheedat Ajibade opened the scoring for the Super Falcons in the 25th minute from the penalty spot after she was brought down inside the box by the Burundi goalie.

Three minutes later, Ajibade set up two more goals after a brilliant run on the right flank. The attacker on both occasions produced good crosses inside the box for Efih and Uchenna Kanu to score from close range.

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Kanu could have easily scored a first-half hat-trick as she had a goal ruled out for offside and then fired wide from close range with the goal at her mercy.

In a half that produced 14 shots on goal for Nigeria, the Super Falcons went into the break with a 3-0 lead but it could have been more.

Uchenna Kanu scores with only 22 seconds in the second half

But 22 seconds into the second half, Nigeria made it 4-0 as Uchenna Kanu stabbed home Ajibade's cross from close range to get her brace. The goal came with Nigeria playing with nine players on the pitch at that moment due to a delay in substitutions.

But as the scoreline read 4-0 with just 49 minutes of play, coach Randy Waldrum felt it was necessary to rest some of his players ahead of the quarterfinals as he substituted the quartet of Rasheedat Ajibade, Ifeoma Onumonu, Uchenna Kanu and captain Onome Ebi.

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Despite having enough firepower on the pitch, Super Falcons failed to extend their lead on the night as the game ended 4-0 after 90 minutes.

Nigeria are now set to face rivals Cameroon in the quarterfinals.

Randy Waldrum apologizes to Nigerian journalists

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Super Falcons head coach, Randy Waldrum, has tendered an apology to Nigerian journalists for his comments about the media in the country.

In his statement, Waldrum mentioned something about the Nigerian media being ‘negative’ but has withdrawn the statement after he was cautioned by the Nigeria Football Federation.

Waldrum says he holds journalists in high esteem, adding that Nigeria are determined not only to win a ticket to the FIFA World Cup but also to retain the WAFCON title