Omagbemi doles out N.2million, balls, jerseys to former club

Former Super Falcons coach Florence Omagbemi made a surprise appearance at the camp of Invincible Leopards Football Club of Warri, Delta State at the weekend, showing a cash gift of N200,000, (N.2m) sets of jerseys and soccer balls among other items to players and officials of the club.

In her early football playing days, Omagbemi played for Invincible Leopards in Warri, where she rose to become the first captain of the Super Falcons in 1991.
After participating at the France 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, where she served as Match Commissioner,
Omagbemi came to Nigeria to spend some time with members of her family.
Before she departed for her base in the United States of America on Sunday, the former Super Falcons
captain visited her former club, Invincible Leopards FC and gave out a series of items.
Among the items were N200,000 cash, 32 soccer T-shirts, 18 soccer socks, five soccer balls, boots and
traveling bags.
Omagbemi told journalists shortly before she left for the USA that the donations to Invincible Leopards FC of Warri were her little way of giving back to the club.
A pioneer member of Invincible Leopards FC, Napoleon Aluma has described Omagbemi’s donations as
‘heartwarming and encouraging’. Omagbemi won the 2016 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations with the
Super Eagles in Cameroon. The feat earned her place in the nominations for the FIFA Coach of the Year.
She was however sidelined by the Nigeria Football Federation in a reshuffle of the technical department of the various national teams in 2017.
As a player, Omagbemi enjoyed a success-laden career, winning the Women’s AFCON five times in 1998,
2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006.
She was also part of the historic Falcons team that made it to the quarter-final of the Women’s
World Cup in 1999.
Omagbemi has also made tremendous strides in the football administration circle, serving on various FIFA and CAF committees.
In 2012, Omagbemi was part of the Nigerian U-20 Women team’s technical crew that got to the semifinal in Japan. She worked with former Falcons coach, Edwin Okon in Japan.
That same year, FIFA listed Omagbemi as a member of Women’s U- 17 World Cup organizing committee held in Azerbaijan. She was also a member of the FIFA Women’s U-17
World Cup organizing committee at Costa Rica in 2014.
In 2015, Omagbemi was elevated to the senior rank, as she was listed as a member of FIFA’s Technical Study Group (TSG) for Canada 2015 Women’s World Cup.
Omagbemi was the second ex- Falcons player to handle the women senior team. The first was ex-striker, Uche Eucharia.