WOMEN'S FOOTBALL

More injury woes for Australia ahead of Nigeria clash

Published

1 year ago

July 26, 2023

FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 - Group B - Australia Training - Spencer Park , Brisbane, Australia - July 26, 2023 General view of Australia players during training REUTERS/Dan Peled

Australia’s injuries continue to mount at the Women’s World Cup with forward Mary Fowler and defender Aivi Luik joining Sam Kerr on the sidelines for Thursday’s Group B clash against Nigeria, but captain Steph Catley said spirits remain high on her 10th-ranked team.

Fowler and Luik suffered mild concussions in separate incidents during Tuesday’s training, while Kerr, the team’s leading scorer with 63 goals, has a calf injury that kept her out of Australia’s 1-0 win over Ireland in their opening game. She will be re-evaluated after the Nigeria game.

“Morale is high. There’s not too much I need to do to be honest, I think everyone’s very focused,” said Catley, who scored the lone goal on a penalty versus Ireland. “Everyone knows we need to keep the morale high.

“(Injuries) are not what you want ever in a tournament and, in particular, this tournament…as Australian players probably the biggest moment of our careers. But it’s football and it happens to every single footballer on the entire planet. It’s how the rest of the squad bounces back and performs in a high-pressure situation in the biggest games.”

Fowler replaced Kerr in the attack for the Ireland match at Sydney’s Stadium Australia, while Luik was an unused substitute. Football Australia said both had fully recovered and started the “return to play” protocols.

That suggests they would be available for Australia’s final group match against Olympic champions Canada in Melbourne next Monday.

“When it’s concussion protocol as a coach, you have to have the biggest respect for a player’s health and if a player is ruled out, they’re ruled out,” said coach Tony Gustavsson.

“Two days out you always have high intensity (at training). We were unlucky. Unfortunately two head knocks.”

Gustavsson said there will likely be no update on Kerr until Sunday, the eve of the Canada game.

-Reuters

WOMEN'S FOOTBALL

What a goal-laden day for Nigeria; Falconets also win with wide margin!

Published

2 hours ago

September 7, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Nigeria Super Falconets gave Nigerians additional joy after their 4-0 defeat of Venezuela in Cali, Colombia in their last group match. Their victory followed up with an earlier 3-0 win by the Super Eagles in their opening Group D match with Benin Republic in Uyo.

The Falconets’ win means they have qualified for the Round of 16 where they are most likely going to face Japan when the group games are completed on Sunday.

Both Nigeria and Germany tied on six points, but Germany have one goal better than Nigeria on goal difference.

The Super Falcons made early hays when Amina Bello put Nigeria ahead after 16 minutes. Chiamaka Okwuchukwu doubled the lead in the 28^th minute before Flourish Sebastine put in the third five minutes into the added time of the first half. Joy Igbokwe put in the back breaker four minutes into the added time of the second hald.

WOMEN'S FOOTBALL

Okwuchukwu shines despite Nigeria’s defeat to Germany in U-20 Women’s World Cup

Published

2 days ago

September 5, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Nigeria’s U-20 Women’s World Cup campaign suffered a setback as they fell to a 3-1 defeat against a clinical German side in Bogota, Colombia on Wednesday night.

The result secures Germany’s place in the knockout stages, while leaving the Falconets with work to do in their final group match.

In an end-to-end encounter, both sides created numerous chances, but it was Germany who struck first. Cora Zicai’s pinpoint cross found Alara Sehitler, who nodded home in the 17th minute to give the Europeans the lead.

Nigeria’s star performer, Chiamaka Okwuchukwu, had earlier come close to opening the scoring with a magnificent solo run, only to be denied by German goalkeeper Rebecca Adamczyk.

Okwuchukwu’s persistence paid off early in the second half when she capitalized on a defensive mix-up to draw Nigeria level, celebrating with Cristiano Ronaldo’s famous ‘siuuu’ celebration.

However, Germany’s quality shone through as they regained the lead through Sofie Zdebel, again assisted by the impressive Zicai.

Despite Okwuchukwu having another goal ruled out for offside, Germany sealed the win in stoppage time with Sarah Ernst’s powerful header.

The defeat leaves Nigeria on three points from two matches, with their final group game against Venezuela in Cali now crucial to their hopes of progressing.

WOMEN'S FOOTBALL

Points of Note in Falconets’ loss to Germany

Published

3 days ago

September 5, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Germany beat Nigeria’s Falconets 3-1 in their second group game of the FIFA U-20 World Cup. With Germany’s win, the Europeans have made it to the last 16 stage, even with a game to spare.

The coach of Germany, Kathrin Peter acknowledged the efforts of the Nigerian team , saying: “It was a really tough match today.

“That was expected, but we actually had big problems in defence. They had a few chances where we had the necessary luck, we have to admit that.

“But in the second half we were really good and asserted our dominance and I think we deserved to win in the end.”

Here are some major points:

Germany beat Nigeria 2-0 in the final match 14 years ago in Germany.

Germany have now won their last four FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup meetings with Nigeria. Alex Popp inspired a 2-0 victory in the 2010 final, Lena Petermann settled the decider in extra-time four year later, and Stefanie Sanders was the solitary scorer in Group D in 2018.