I gave myself fifteen years [to play with the Super Falcons]. Making it [a] hundred [caps] will be like taking another one to three years again with … - Precious Dede

Everyone knows me but I still don’t have friends because I use every little free time I have to do some more work. I came to India to achieve results. I am here for a goal and I’m not resting on my oars or using my time for other things until that goal is achieved.

The girls know what I’ve done and they look up to me a lot. I can see them paying really close attention when I work with them, and it helps that I can still step on the pitch and show them how certain things should be done. The other day, one of the girls came up to me and asked, ‘Mum — they call me that — can I ever be like you?’ And I told her, ‘No, you won’t be like me – you will be better than me. That is why I am here: to get you to that level.

I feel that I have tried after 15 years with the national team. For me that is a very good record, and it was about time I left the stage for the younger ones. They are equally good, they can carry on. I wanted to quit before the last World Cup, but I was asked to come back and play. It was very disappointing (Falcons performance at Canada 2015) because I’d thought we had what it took to get as far as the final or even the semis, but I thank God though.