Izuchukwu OkosiNigeria’s Super Falcons on Thursday took a step closer to reaching the round of 16 stage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand with a narrow 3-2 win over co-hosts Australia.
Uchenna Kanu, Osinachi Ohale and Asisat Oshoala were the scorers for the nine-time African champions who must now avoid a defeat against debutant Republic of Ireland on Monday to conform their place in the knockout stages.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelPrime Business Africa presents the four takeaways from the game.
1. Defensive Sloppiness of the Falcons
The Super Falcons started the game on a shaky note, losing possessions at will – with centre back- Tosin Demehin – the biggest culprit.
The Falcons were not at their races and were indeed lucky not to have conceded a lot of goals in the first half.
They were able to defend from set pieces in numbers but the ball clearances were not convincing enough which inadvertently only caused palpitations in the back line, and on the substitute bench.
The art of defending for the Nigerians improved significantly in the second half.
2. Australia Pressing
The Maltidas were relentless in attacking the Nigerians, forcing them into errors and trying their luck form long ranges.
The Falcons did not exert same pressure on the hosts in the first half albeit they worked on that and improved in that aspect of their game in the second 45 minutes.
That ultimately led to the brilliant goal scored by Asisat Oshoala.
3. Waldrum’s Oshoala, Kanu Conudrum
Head coach Randy Waldrum left Asisat Oshoala on the substitute bench against Australia and introduced her in the second half.
There were reports that the Barcelona star copped a minor injury in training which the coach did not want to risk.
She was then unleashed in the second half and it did not seem the Nigerian star player ever had difficulties with her legs.
There had been reactions on the suppsed below par performances of Oshoala of late for the national team and with the excellent performance of Uchenna Kanu in her stead who started from kick off, Waldrum will have the pleasant headache of deciding who starts against Ireland.
4. Unwanted record binned
The Super Falcons have never won any game they conceded first but that was not the case against heavyweights, Australia.
That record was however left on the tournament’s history as the Falcons came from a possible losing position to defeat Australia 3-2.
That could have a huge impact mentally on the players who are tipped to beat Republic of Ireland.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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