France’s Les Bleues were 2-1 winners over the Super Falcons of Nigeria in a turgid international friendly game played under frosty and misty weather in Angers on Saturday night.

The nine-time African champions started with some promise at the Stade Raymond Kopa, determined to take the game to the hosts. But at the other end, Marie-Antoinette Katoto had the ball in the net in the 7^th minute, only to be correctly ruled offside.

Eugenie Claudine Le Sommer, playing her 197^th match for Les Bleues, scored her 94^th international goal in the 29^th minute to put the host nation ahead. Eight minutes later, it was 2-0 after Tunisia-born Amel Majri got the ball past goalkeeper and stand-in captain Chiamaka Nnadozie.

The high point of the game, however, was Nigeria scoring her first-ever goal against the Les Bleues. From a corner kick to the hosts in added time of the first half, a long clearance from the back found Spain-based Gift Monday, who quickly found gangling Montpellier FC of France forward Ifeoma Onumonu for the latter to make history.

Without captain and big inspiration Rasheedat Ajibade and defender Oluwatosin Demehin far away from the match venue as a result of injuries, it was always going to be an uphill task for the Falcons to earn a first win over their hosts. Yet, they gave it a fight in an interesting second period.

Nnadozie was alert to save from Dephine Cascarino just after the restart, and as the game wore on, Majri saw her 20-yard free-kick soar far higher than Nnadozie’s goal-post.

With 10 minutes left on the clock, Nigeria broke forward, and from a corner kick, defender Sikiratu Isah came pretty close with a volley that had goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin stretching full strength to tip the ball behind the goalpost.

Five minutes later, Christy Ucheibe failed to get her direction right when sweeping the ball from a cross from the right, and watched as it floated over the bar.

In the 86^th minute, Nnadozie saved another point-blank effort, and the rebound was scrambled back to the goalkeeper by the hard-working Sikiratu Isah.

Though defeated, the Super Falcons were far from being disgraced, and the game could, perhaps, have been somewhat different had Ajibade and Demehin been involved.   

FRANCE – NIGERIA: 2-1 (2-1)
Referee: Ms. Hussein (ALL). 
Goals: Le Sommer (29th), Majri (37th) for France; Onumonu (45th +3) for Nigeria.

Warnings: Ucheibe (63rd), Echegini (66th), Babajide (90th+4), Oladipo (90th+7), Ohale (90th+7 and 90th+8) for Nigeria. Expulsion: Ohale (90th+8) for Nigeria.

FRANCE: Peyraud-Magnin – Lakrar, Renard (cap.) (Le Guilly, 46th), Sombath – D. Cascarino (Karchaoui, 60th), Toletti, Geyoro (Jean-François, 46th), Bogaert (Bacha, 82nd) ​​- Le Sommer (Feller, 46th), Katoto (Malard, 71st), Majri. Coach : Laurent Bonadei. Substitutes: Lerond (g), Picaud (g), Sieber (g), E. Cascarino, Dali, Baltimore, Le Mouël, Samoura, Matéo, Becho.

NIGERIA: Nnadozie (cap.) – Alozie (Oladipo, 73rd), Ohale, Plumptre, Imuran – Echegini (Yina, 73rd), Ucheibe, Payne (Omokwo, 90th +2) – Monday (Babajide, 73rd), Onumonu, Nkor (Isah, 46th). Coach : J. Madugu.

When France takes on Nigeria in a women’s football-friendly match this Saturday, it will be the seventh time in their 53-year history that the Les Bleues will play in the city of Angers.

The French women’s national team was first composed in 1971 and played their first match against The Netherlands on April 17, 1971. The French team won the match 4-0.

Nigeria’s Super Falcons on the other hand was first composed in 1991, which is 20 years after the French team’s debut.

Like the French team, the Super Falcons had a four-goal margin win in their first-ever international match as they beat Ghana 5-1 on 16 February 1991.

But while the French team had their first-ever final match in an international competition at the UEFA Women’s Nations League 2024, the Super Falcons have played several final matches, especially at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations which they have won nine times in 10 final matches.

Their first-ever final match was a 2-0 defeat of Ghana in the inaugural CAF Women’s Nations Cup in Abeokuta on 31 October 1998.

As the head-to-head statistics favour France, so also is the current FIFA ranking. While the Super Falcons are currently ranked 10th, the Super Falcons are 36th.  

When the Super Falcons slumped to France in a 8-0 defeat in 2018, it was the joint most woeful they ever suffered having crumbled in a similar vein against Norway at the 1995 FIFA Women’s World Cup and also to Germany in an international friendly in 2010.

BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

Nigeria’s women’s national team will face their French counterparts this Saturday night in a friendly match marking their fourth confrontation.

This Saturday’s match will be held at 10 minutes past nine in the evening at Raymond-Kopa Stadium, Angers, France.

From the previous three clashes, Nigeria did not only lose all, they amassed a 10-goal deficit and did not score any.

These are encounters in Germany in the 2011 Women’s World Cup, that of 2019 in France, and a friendly match in 2018.  

 In those three matches, the Nigerian side lost without scoring a goal.

While the losses in the Women’s World Cup matches were respectable, 1-0 defeats, the friendly match of 6 April 2018 was scandalous, an 8-0 loss that brought aggregate losses to 10-0.

But the friendly match in view may present a different ball game as the initial ageing Super Falcons is now being rebuilt and has back-to-back wins against Algeria.

The recent managerial change in the team could also be a factor.

France Le Bleues has also undergone managerial change since the Paris 2024 Olympics as Laurent Bonadei took over from Renard Herve just as Justine Madugu has taken over from Randy Waldrum at the Super Falcons.