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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL

Again, Cameroon Comes Into Contention As Nigeria’s Flamingos Will Battle Central African Republic In Douala –

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FIFA World Cup bronze-medallists Nigeria will begin their quest for a place in this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup next weekend, when they take on their counterparts from Central African Republic in a second round, first leg encounter in the Cameroonian city of Douala.

 

The Central Africans have for many years now made Douala home, as a result of lack of an approved stadium for international matches in Bangui or any other city in their country. It was in Douala that they hosted the Super Eagles in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier in November 2021, which the Eagles won 2-0.

 

The match already scheduled for Sunday, 4th February will hold at the Stade de la Reunification de Douala, and commence at 3pm Cameroon time. Nigeria’s Flamingos, who won the bronze medals of the last edition of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup hosted by India, after a penalty shootout defeat of Germany, have appeared at every edition of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals bar one – the 2018 finals in Uruguay.

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Already, the Confederation of African Football has appointed Tunisian official Emna Ajbouni as referee, with her compatriots Khouloud Amri, Ameni Hammemi and Asma Chouchane as assistant 1, assistant 2 and fourth official respectively. Eugenie Mbainaye from Chad will serve as the commissioner.

 

For the return leg in Nigeria, Moroccan official Zakia El Grini will be referee, with her compatriots Ihsane Ennouajeli Nouajli, Karima Khadiri and Sabah Sadir in the roles of assistant 1, assistant 2 and fourth official respectively. Naa Odofoley Nortey from Ghana will be the commissioner.

 

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The second leg will take place at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja on Saturday, 10th February 2024.

 

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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