WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Morocco hoping to continue fairy tale run against France
The Atlas Lionesses of Morocco will be hoping to continue their fairy-tale run at the FIFA Women’s World Cup when they meet France in the round of 16 of the tournament on Tuesday.
Just like their male counterparts who reached the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the Morocco women’s national team has carved their own historic path at the global stage by qualifying for the round of 16 of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in their first attempt, joining Nigeria and South Africa.
Not only have they achieved this remarkable feat in their first attempt, but Morocco also became the first African nation to win two successive FIFA Women’s World Cup matches – this after suffering a 6-0 loss in their opening match where many wrote them off from the tournament.
Following their disappointing opening match, the Atlas Lionesses showed resilience with a 1-0 win over Korea Republic before roaring into the round of 16 with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Colombia.
With a knockout stage spot fully secured against France, a lot will be expected of the CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations silver-medalists against the 5th ranked France, who carry the favourites tag going into the clash.
The Europeans were held to a goalless stalemate by Jamaica in their opening match before pulling off one of the tournament upsets with a 2-1 victory over Brazil, before thrashing Panama 6-3 to secure a meeting with Morocco in the round of 16.
A lot of insight will be expected from their French-born coach, Reynald Pedros in identifying areas to exploit in the France team, something that the coach is well capable of after displaying his tactical acumen in masterminding the two victories that saw his side make history.
WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
What a goal-laden day for Nigeria; Falconets also win with wide margin!
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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 28th 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
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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
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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.
- This was just Nigeria’s third loss in their past 24 group matches at the tournament.
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