While Nigeria’s players are used to fighting hard on the field, their fiercest battles often come off it.

In recent years disputes over unpaid bonuses, poor travel arrangements and a lack of support from the Nigeria Football Federation have disrupted camps, strained relationships and made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Despite delivering an impressive performance at the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup, where they reached the round of 16 and took eventual finalists England to a penalty shootout, the team returned home to unresolved administrative issues.

Nnadozie, Nigeria’s first-choice goalkeeper and breakout star of that World Cup, described the mental toll of constantly having to fight on two fronts.

“It’s left to us to do what we know how to do best”, said the 24-year-old who recently signed for Brighton after her exit from French club Paris FC.

“We’ll go to Morocco to work hard and try to bring back the trophy to Nigeria.”

Michelle Alozie, who plays for Houston Dash in the USA’s National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), shares Nnadozie’s outlook.

“Adversity makes us stronger, brings us closer together and helps us fight for each other on and off the field,” the 28-year-old forward said.

“Obviously, we were really disappointed in the last Wafcon and we want to do the best for the team, for our country.”

However, some fans are concerned that decorated names such as Oshoala and Ordega may have passed their prime and should perhaps make room for fresh legs in the current set-up.

Oshoala, for example, has failed to score in 11 NWSL outings for Bay FC this season – although she did find the back of the net against Ghana in the squad’s final warm-up match.

“Asisat is a jewel to Nigerian football, you cannot discount her accomplishments and relevance,” Madugu insisted.

“For the men they say the younger, the better. But with the women the psychology is different. The older, the better.

“When you check some of the top women’s football nations like the USA and Germany, their best players are the more experienced ones.”

Victory in Morocco would not just be a return to the summit of African football, for millions of Nigerians it would be a rare unifying moment of national pride.