WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
New Zealand family purchase 1,500,000th FIFA Women’s World Cup
A record-breaking tournament has continued with an Aotearoa New Zealand family today purchasing the 1,500,000th ticket sold at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™.
The milestone tickets were purchased by Maria Strong, organising a family outing to the Group G fixture between Italy and Argentina at Auckland’s Eden Park to celebrate her son’s 12th birthday.
Mrs Strong, her husband and three children were invited to meet FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who offered them the opportunity to attend the remaining matches in the tournament at the Auckland venue. President Infantino said it was an honour to celebrate the 1,500,000-ticket milestone with Maria Strong’s family.
“It was great to meet the family that has bought the 1,500,000-ticket, they are a family from Auckland with three children and they have a passion for the game,” said Mr. Infantino.
“I enjoyed my time with them, and it was a real pleasure to invite them to every game here in Auckland, so they can enjoy more family time here at this wonderful stadium. Every match at Eden Park so far has had a great atmosphere and I’m sure the upcoming matches will be the same.”
It is the latest achievement for a tournament which has already reached several milestones and broken many records, both globally and in the two host nations.
With 1.5m tickets now sold, the sales target has been passed only five days into the tournament, thus ensuring that these finals are set to be the most attended FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in history, surpassing the previous record held by the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015.
The opening games in the tournament have also seen record attendances for a women’s football match in both Australia (75,784 for Australia v Republic of Ireland) and Aotearoa New Zealand (42,137 for New Zealand v Norway).
Attending with her husband, Jason Roxburgh, and their children Isobel (12), Boston (11) and Harry (9), Mrs Strong said it has been a wonderful experience and easy to organise.
“Boston is a real football-loving fanatic so we thought attending this match would be a great family outing,” said Mrs Strong. “We purchased the tickets last night and it’s been such a great night: we’re from Botany in Auckland, so caught the train in and even though it’s a school night, it’s been amazing and so easy.”
With a family-friendly atmosphere and world-class football, Mrs Strong said the family was instantly hooked.
“Aside from when Boston is playing, we haven’t watched much football, but we loved this game, have absolutely loved the atmosphere, and we will be back to watch,” she added.
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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