Kikelomo Ajayi, former Super Falcons Captain, said she will retire from international football after the Africa Women Cup of Nations (AWC) scheduled to hold in Cameroon, from Nov. 19 to Dec. 3.
Ajayi, who disclosed this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Abuja on Sunday, said she would be glad to play for the national team once more before her retirement.
“I will retire from international football next year and I hope Super Falcons coaching crew can give me a chance to play for the team in the qualifiers and at the 2016 AWC in Cameroon.
“I hope to win the trophy one more time for the country before I retire.
“Florence Omagbemi, the team’s Head Coach, is always a winner and I believe she will win the trophy in her time as the coach.
“Upon retirement, I will go to Europe and acquire a coaching license before I think of a team to manage, possibly a national team’’, Ajayi said.
She also told NAN that her plan to retire next year was to serve out a two-year contract she signed with a Polish Premier League club side which terminates in 2017.
According to her, Solomon Arase, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), is influential to the position she is currently enjoying in the Nigeria police.
“First of all I give thanks to God and secondly to Mr Odion, who discovered me as a player.
“I remember a match we played here in Abuja and he said Kike, let’s go to Lagos that there was ongoing recruitment in the police.
“He bought my flight ticket to Lagos and I submitted my credentials; thereafter, I was selected to play for the police team and from there I entered the national team.
“The last Nations Cup I won with the team, I lifted the trophy as the captain and one of our sports officers said that we should take the trophy to the then IGP, Mike Okiro.
“Immediately we got there, my present IGP started telling Okiro that I am a star and that I have made the police proud; that was how I was given accelerated promotion’’, she added.
Ajayi noted that she was lucky to have superiors that liked sports “and the current IGP is among.’’
NAN reports that Ajayi captained the Force Headquarters to win female football gold at the just-concluded 11th biennial Police Games tagged “Abuja 2016’’ at the National Stadium, Abuja.
The Police Games is part of activities marking the 2016 police week which ends on April 1. (NAN)