Nigeria veteran Francisca Ordega has openly questioned the Super Falcons' preparations for the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, following the defending champions' shock elimination ended their hopes of taking one of the continent's automatic qualifying places for the FIFA Women's World Cup.
Nigeria's 1-0 defeat by Cameroon in Sunday's quarterfinal represented the Super Falcons' earliest ever WAFCON elimination, and while they could still salvage something from their campaign when they face South Africa in Thursday's World Cup 'play-in', the inquest into their disastrous showing in Morocco has already begun.
Ordega was unequivocal when she told ESPN that the Falcons' preparations to the tournament were one major factor behind their poor showing at the tournament.
"Of course not," she began, when asked whether the team's preparations were good enough, "of course not. I think it's something we really need to talk about.
"If you're coming for a World Cup competition or qualification, you have to prepare because everyone is coming here [with the] World Cup as everyone's target.
"Moving forward, we'll be able to do better with our preparation."
Nigeria's build-up to the WAFCON had been complicated by the tournament's postponement from its original March-April dates, with their initial preparation plan for the competition having to be torn up.
The NFF subsequently struggled to secure sufficient warm-up opposition ahead of the tournament, with the Falcons only eventually opening their pre-tournament camp in Morocco approximately two weeks before the competition began.
A planned friendly against Ghana was cancelled, with Ordega believing the team are now paying the price for their poor prep.
"Really, I can't imagine us being in the position where we are now," she continued. "Nigeria is a country where everybody wants to be at the tournament.
"Every time we're here, we know why we came. It's a big thing for us and all Nigerians back home.
"We wanted to qualify. That was our first aim. We wanted to qualify for the World Cup, and that's it."
Should they fail to advance past South Africa on Thursday, it would be the first time 10-time WAFCON champs Nigeria would fail to qualify for the women's global football showpiece.
Ordega, who has represented the Super Falcons at four previous World Cup tournaments, also expressed her surprise at not being called to enter the Cameroon game from the bench by Justin Madugu, while stopping short of criticising the West Africans' head coach.
"I was expecting to go in, yes, but the coach still has the best decision. Whatever decision he makes was best for the team, I guess," she added.
"Sometimes we need this kind of experience. Not every time, but sometimes we need experience in this kind of game.
"In or out, I'm still proud of the girls. Painful? Yes. Heartbroken? Yes, but I'm still proud of the girls.
"We'll give everything to come and play against South Africa to qualify. We don't want to make [Nigerians] disappointed, then we'll all be happy."
Nigeria must now defeat South Africa in Casablanca on Thursday in order to advance to FIFA's inter-confederation play-offs, set to take place in November and December this year, while Cameroon advanced to face Morocco in Wednesday's first WAFCON semifinal in Rabat.