Ikhana quits Falcons job, says target wasn’t met

Coach Kadiri Ikhana has quit his job as the head coach of Falcons two days after the disappointing outing of the squad against Cameroon in the third place tie of the African Women’s championship in Equatorial Guinea.
Prior to their third place loss to Cameroon’s Lionesses, the Super Falcons went into the 2012 edition of the AWC as the defending champions after lifting the trophy in the previous edition but their chances of defending the title slipped out of their hands after they lost 1-0 to 2012 host; Banyana Banyana in the semi-final.
And to worsen their predicament, the Falcons finished fourth place making it their worst-ever result at continental level.
According Ikhana, he decided to quit because his target was to lift the trophy in the 2012 edition of the AWC.
“I resigned because my personal target was to lift the trophy,” said Ikhana.
“I let the country down, so I deeply apologize and take full responsibility for the disappointment in Equatorial Guinea.
“This failure informed my decision to quit the stage.”
Ikhana, who was speaking to local media in the capital Abuja, had met the target set for him in his contract with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) but the 60-year-old felt that was not enough.
The NFF is expected to make an official statement on Ikhana this week.
Kadiri ikhana replaced the former coach; Eucharia Uche, whose contract was not renewed after last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany, and he signed a four-year deal in April.
He was charged with reviving the fortunes of the Super Falcons following their failure to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics.
Ikhana set the task of reaching the semi-finals of both the 2012 African Women’s Championship and the 2015 Fifa Women’s World Cup finals in Canada, as well as qualification for the 2015 All Africa games in Mozambique and the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
Hosts Equatorial Guinea beat South Africa 4-1 on Sunday to win the African Women’s Championship.