WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Ahead of this morning’s clash with England, Ajibade tells FIFA: ‘A wa l’o kan’ – This is Nigeria’s time
Rasheedat Ajibade says Nigeria have a burning desire to write their name in history and tips a 2-1 win against England on Monday.
- Claims the Super Falcons will create history
- Predicts a 2-1 win for her nation
- Says this is ‘Nigeria’s time’
Rasheedat Ajibade isn’t listening to the outside noise; to those voices that suggest a star-studded England will brush Nigeria aside, that the ranking gap from the fourth-placed European champions to the Super Falcons down at 40 will be too much for her nation to overcome.
Instead, she’s bullish on Nigeria’s hopes and full of belief that they, not England, can dictate the way the match unfolds, as she tells FIFA.
“We’ve seen a lot of surprises in this World Cup, it’s not about the name, it’s not about the players, it’s not about all of those things.
“Honestly, I respect every player on the England team but we have a lot of quality on our team and a lot of talent that poses threats. I’m focussed on what we can do as a team and not what England want to do and at the end of the day it boils down to what we will do on the field.”
So deep does that confidence and belief run that the 23-year-old forward didn’t evade questions about how the match may unfold – as many players often do – and rather confidently asserted how she sees things finishing in Brisbane.
“Nigeria two, England one.”
Having been suspended for the Super Falcons opener against Canada, Ajibade returned and played a key role in both the 3-2 win over Australia and the scoreless draw with Republic of Ireland that secured Nigeria’s passage to the Round of 16.
Some players may have celebrated the achievement of progressing from the group stage for just the third time in their nation’s history but not so Ajibade who is insistent that the pen which will write their history has yet to be picked up.
“It’s my second time qualifying from the group so it’s not new and it’s all about doing something new this time.
“I have a feeling it’s our time and we will make history. We’ve qualified for the Round of 16 in the past so that’s not history.
“Now we have to do something new and historical and we want to write our names in history, we have individual goals and collective goals and want to make sure we do something different so that we can lay a standard for those that are coming behind.”
On the pitch, Ajibade is hard to miss with the shock of blue that runs through her hair and off it she’s just as clear in her assertion as to what drives the motivation behind her team’s success.
“We’re playing for passion, we’re playing for the young kids out there, playing for our friends and families.
“Any time I have the opportunity to be called to the national team it’s a privilege for me and an honour that I would never take for granted. Playing on the biggest stage of football is a dream come true for me because there are a lot of talented young Nigerian players that could be on the squad and amidst millions of football players, I was one of those that were called up.
“Everything I’ve been training for and working for, this is it. The sleepless nights, the hard work, the injuries, the mental part that I’ve been working on, this is what I’ve been doing it for.”
As for who may score the winning goal in that victory she’s foreseen, Ajibade is less clear but if her confidence and belief rubs off on the rest of the squad then England will clearly have a real battle on their hands on Monday afternoon.
“I don’t care who scores the goal! It’s not about individual goals for me, I might score a goal and we might not win so I just want to make it to the quarter-final….unless you say I can score the winning goal!”
-FIFA
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
![](https://sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/chiamaka-okwuchukwu-nigeriau20.webp)
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
![](https://sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/GWqsbLhX0AAKxiF.jpeg)
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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