Glory Ogbonna, the ace defender of the Super Falcons, said the team remained proud even with the loss of the semi-final game against the host team, Morocco.

Ogbonna who spoke from the team’s base in Morocco, said “we hold our head high”.

She said the Super Falcons went into the game with the sole aim of beating the host team to qualify for the finals and possibly win the trophy for a record 10th time.

According to her, “we started well but things changed with the first and second red cards that were issued to our players almost in quick succession.

“You will agree with me that so many decisions made by the referee were clearly against us and even with that, we didn’t succumb until the final whistle.

“It was very unfortunate that we lost one of our penalty kicks, that is hard luck and still, we are very proud of ourselves.”

Ogbonna said that the team’s focus now was on the third place match which they hope to win, to compensate their fans.

“Morocco game is over; we are now focused on our next and final game in the tournament, the third place, and we will have something for our fans to smile with,” she stated.

The Super Falcons lost their semi-finals game 4 – 5 through penalty kicks to the Moroccans on Monday night, playing with 9 players for the better part of the match.