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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL

Clash of styles as England, Spain eye Women’s World Cup summit

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 FIFA Women's World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 - Spain Training - Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia - August 19, 2023 General view during training REUTERS/Hannah Mckay Acquire Licensing Rights

Women’s football will crown a first-time champion on Sunday when the ninth Women’s World Cup concludes with England and Spain, both proud footballing nations, facing off in an intriguing final in Sydney.

The highly-successful tournament in Australia and New Zealand was destined to have a fresh winner from the quarter-finals when Japan joined the United States, Germany and Norway in making a premature exit.

For all the excitement that accompanied Australia’s run to the semi-finals and Japan’s brilliance in the early rounds, the consensus is that England and Spain are worthy first-time finalists.

“I think it’s going to be a brilliant game,” England captain Millie Bright enthused on Saturday.

“Two top teams coming head-to-head. And ultimately the game is about getting the ball in the back of the net and executing the game plan. So find a way to win.”

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The tournament has showcased the development of the women’s game but the finalists do present a contrast in styles — England pragmatic, ruthless, resilient and Spain displaying all the technical skill the country’s football is famed for.

Midfield maestro Aitana Bonmati and the fresh young talent of winger Salma Paralluelo have shone brightly for Spain, while Lauren James, before her two-match ban for a red card, and Lauren Hemp have been among England’s standouts.

The finalists have had their blips — Spain thrashed 4-0 by Japan in their last group game and England taken to penalties by Nigeria in the last 16 — but both have grown into the tournament and were convincing semi-final winners.

Expectations of a tight final in front of another sellout crowd of 75,000 at Stadium Australia might not be too wide of the mark if England’s 2-1 win in the European Championship quarter-final between the sides last year is any guide.

“This was a game we know were on top of, but it’s the result that counts,” said Spain coach Jorge Vilda.

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“England knows what they have in front of them tomorrow. Our team has evolved, our team has grown in this World Cup and mentally we’ve taken a step up.”

‘WE ARE READY’

England needed an extra time goal to beat Spain last year and continue their run to their first major title, a campaign on home soil conducted to the strains of ‘Football’s Coming Home’ during which the Lionesses captured the hearts of a nation.

Although they have had their share of injury setbacks this year, they have maintained the self-belief the Euros triumph and their calm Dutch coach Sarina Wiegman has imbued in them.

“We are ready,” Wiegman said on Saturday. “Technically, tactically. We have watched Spain, of course, analysed them with our analysis team, and I think we’re ready.”

For Spain, the defeat in Brighton marked the start of rumblings of discontent in the dressing room which ended in outright mutiny against Vilda earlier this year.

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The coach has kept his counsel on the dispute which robbed Spain of a handful of their top players for the tournament and if there is a split in the camp it was not in evidence when they celebrated their semi-final win over Sweden.

“What we want to do tomorrow is to be the best in the world,” he said in response to the last of many questions about the issue he faced on Saturday.

“And we’ll do this by winning the final.”

-Reuters

 

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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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:

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  • 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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