Best Finland’s Referee to Officiate Nigeria Vs Canada 2023 World Cup Clash

The world football governing body, FIFA, has confirmed that the best woman’s referee in Finland, Lina Lehtovaara, will officiate the opening Group B game between Nigeria and Canada at 03:30 on Friday morning.

The must-win match for the Super Falcons will take place against the reigning Olympic champions at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.

Chrysoula Kourompylyia (assistant referee 1) from Greece, Karolin Kaivoja (assistant referee 2) from Estonia and Luliana Demetrescu (fourth Official) from Romania will work with the 42-year-old referee Lehtovaara.

Recall that Lehtovaara officiated the 2022 UEFA Women’s Champions League final between Barcelona and Olympique Lyon. She also served as an official in the 2022 UEFA Women’s Euro.

Lehtovaara received the Football Association of Finland’s Referee of the Year award in the 2015–16 and 2018–19 seasons.

She officiates the second and third-tier categories of men’s football as well as the top level of Finnish women’s football.

Meanwhile, Super Falcons captain, Onome Ebi has told CAFOnline that the ambition of the Nigerian team is to conquer the tournament.

She stressed that since she and her teammates disappointed Nigerians in the last Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, the team plans to make up for that by performing well at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, adding that the ball is in the team’s court.

“Our ambition, definitely, is to do our best”, she said. “We approach this World Cup with the mindset of performing to our utmost best and conquering.

“We had some disappointments at the last Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, where we did not put the best performance. We have the opportunity at the World Cup, and we do not want to disappoint again. I have faith in my team and I like our current state of mind.

“The team is united and I believe we will be able to do great things at the World Cup. We are motivated and we want to hoist Nigeria’s flag to the highest point. The ball is in our court as players and we have to do everything to be on fire physically and mentally for this opportunity.”