Halimat Ayinde has expressed her disappointment after she was forced to pull out of Nigeria’s 2024 Olympics qualifier against Ethiopia due to injury.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced on Monday the Rosengard of Sweden star will no longer be part of the squad for the game.
Youngster Esther Onyenezide has already been called up as replacement for the defensive midfielder.
Ayinde took to the social media to express her feeling and send best wishes to her teammates.
“I won’t be joining the Nigeria women’s national team for our upcoming match against Ethiopia due to circumstances beyond my control. Wishing my Super Falcons teammates all the strength and success on the pitch in Addis Ababa! 🇳🇬⚽,”she wrote on her X handle.
Aside Ayinde, the trio of Osinachi Ohale, Christy Ucheibe and Regina Otu have all been ruled out of the game due to injury.
19 players are already in the team’s camp in Addis Ababa.
Meanwhile, the Super Falcons had their first training session ahead of the game on Tuesday afternoon.
Wednesday’s encounter at the Abebe Bekila Stadium will kick off at 3.30pm Ethiopia time (1.30pm Nigeria time).
The return leg has been scheduled for the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja on Tuesday, 31st October 2023, with the winner on aggregate to square up to the winner of the Cameroon/Uganda fixture for a place in the final round of the qualification series.
Next year’s Olympic Games will hold from 26th July – 11th August in Paris and a few other places in France.
