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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL

Team spirit pays off as Nigeria rise above off-field woes

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FIFA Women's World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 - Group B - Australia v Nigeria - Brisbane Football Stadium, Brisbane, Australia - July 27, 2023 Australia's Alanna Kennedy in action with Nigeria's Rasheedat Ajibade and Chiamaka Nnadozie REUTERS/Dan Peled

Low expectations and a bitter pay dispute followed Nigeria to the Women’s World Cup but team spirit trumped off-field woes on Thursday as the Super Falcons breathed life into their tournament with a stunning win over co-hosts Australia.

Weeks before the World Cup’s kick-off, coach Randy Waldrum complained bitterly about unpaid wages for himself and his players, and a lack of resources to prepare his team properly.

The disputes with Nigeria’s soccer federation remain unresolved but the players promised to set them aside for the good of their tournament.

Focusing on the job at hand has paid dividends on the field against two of the top contenders, with Thursday’s 3-2 win over Australia following a valuable 0-0 draw against Olympic champions Canada.

Though top of Group B, level on four points with Canada but ahead on goals scored, Nigeria still have work to do.

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The lowest-ranked side in the group, the world number 40 Africans may need another win against Ireland in their last match to reach the knockout phase.

However, Waldrum said they could at least allow themselves a brief celebration after putting doubters in their place.

“I told (the players) after the match, you know, keep believing,” the American told reporters.

“Keep believing in yourself because great things can happen for teams when you really fight for each other.

“And it’s not always sometimes the best talent that wins.

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“Sometimes it’s the best team, the team that works best together — and we’re enjoying the journey.

“We know there’s still work to do. So we’ll enjoy it tonight and then get our recovery going tomorrow because it was a very, very taxing game on us physically.”

In contrast to Nigeria, world number 10 Australia have been lavished with resources as tournament co-hosts and have enjoyed gender parity with the national men’s team since their collective bargaining agreement in 2019.

The Matildas also had a massive crowd at Lang Park roaring them on but home fans were stunned into silence after Nigeria’s top striker Asisat Oshoala came off the bench to score the Africans’ third goal in the 72nd minute, all but sealing the match.

Ireland will be Nigeria’s immediate focus but the Super Falcons’ battle for respect and better conditions will be an ongoing mission, Waldrum suggested.

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“We need to continue to fight for our players and get the things that they need,” he said.

“We have to keep doing that for all around the world because not all the teams have a collective bargaining like you have here in Australia — and the players fought hard to get that for many years. And same in the U.S.

“So the work is not done.”

-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.

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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