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#2022 U-20 WWC: Falconets Seal Comeback Win Vs Canada, To Face Netherlands In Quarter-finals

#2022 U-20 WWC: Falconets Seal Comeback Win Vs Canada, To Face Netherlands In Quarter-finals

Nigeria’s Falconets rounded off their Group C campaign with a win, after coming from a goal down to beat Canada 3-1 at the ongoing FIFA U-20 women’s World Cup in Costa Rica, Completesports.com reports.

The game which was played in the early hours of Thursday morning (3am Nigerian time), saw a brace from Esther Onyenezide (both from the penalty spot) and substitute Chioma Olise, earn the Falconets their third win of the tournament.

Following the win against Canada, the Falconets will now take on Group D runners-up Netherlands in the quarter-finals on Sunday.

Meanwhile in Group C’s other game, France qualified for the quarter-finals after defeating South Korea 1-0.

The Falconets ended the group phase with nine points, France was second with six points South Korea third with three points and Canada bottom with no point.

Canada got off to a perfect start as they took the lead in the fourth minute after their player Kaila Novak’s outstretched leg intercepted Falconets keeper Omini Oyono’s poor pass to her defender.

The Falconets then took control of the game after the early setback and almost drew level on 15 minutes but Chiamaka Okwuchukwu’s header off a cross from Rofiat Imuran narrowly missed the target.

In the 24th minute the Falconets’ pressure finally paid off thanks to Onyenezide, who converted from the penalty spot after a Canadian player stopped a goal bound shot with her hand.

Onyenezide doubled the Falconets’ lead again from the penalty spot on 32 minutes following a foul on Mercy Idoko.

Three minutes into the seven minutes of added time Idoko could have made it 3-1 but her close range strike from a cross was stopped by the Canadian keeper.

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With seconds left in the added time Deborah Abiodun then hit a long range effort which the Canadian keeper palmed over the bar.

The Falconets continued where they left off in the first half as they continued to pile more pressure in the second 45 minutes.

Their early positive start almost yielded results on 56 minutes through Onyenezide but her long range left foot strike was well saved.

On the hour mark Okwuchukwu had a great chance to extend the Falconets’ lead but failed to direct her header from Onyenezide’s cross towards goal.

In the 66th minute Falconets keeper Oyono was called to action as she got down well to palmed away a low shot.

With 10 minutes left Abiodun tried a left foot curler just outside the box but the Canadian keeper was well positioned to claim the ball.

In the 91st minute Olise added the third goal as she arrived at the back post to slot of a low cross from the left by Imuran.

By James Agberebi


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COMMENTS

WORDPRESS: 28
  • Codex 2 years ago

    Wasn’t just a comeback,the scoreline wasn’t a true reflection of the game,a dominant display by the ‘super’ Falconets (quoting @deo) at times it looked like the girls could score more but the decision making in the final third wasn’t good and if not for flappy hands GK it would’ve been another clean sheet.

    • Codex 2 years ago

      Abiodun the controller alongside the irrepressible Onyenezide and the ever solid captain Demehin made sure the central area was a no go area for Canada especially in the first half while the tireless Imuran tore through the Canadian left side with authority. Superb

  • ADEYEMI Temitope 2 years ago

    This coach shout and talk too much. I am not impress because no good match readers in this team. Nobody to talking to the goalkeeper uncalled for mistakes, you that can’t shut ball is busy playing shut passes. There is no natural or central midfielder and begging chances are just being wasted. On a good day a bad team of Brazil heritage will convert the chances missed by the falconer… I wish them luck but getting to semifinal against a discipline Spain or a compact Japan in the final will exposed the falconer weaknesses.

    • Cyber 2 years ago

      Learn to appreciate people. The ladies tried and they improved. Go and watch the first two matches, you will understand better.

    • Obozuwa 2 years ago

      I don’t know what you are talking about sir. This girls have made me smile to the bank for the 3rd time.

    • Supatemmy 2 years ago

      Can you kick football? Or you think it’s easy to enter field and defeat team that has been playing together for long 3-1… Oga go rest

    • Ezomo 2 years ago

      U see every coach has a way of coaching ND passing out instructions, u can’t say a coach is shouting and talking too much while that’s how he does his things
      Secondly u still want a coach to shout on the goal-keeper while she just committed a mistake that has put her under pressure , while the keeper can corrected during Hal time

    • Papafem 2 years ago

      This Oga Adeyemi wants our team to play like Barca and Man City even in an age grade competition for girls. Are you kidding me?

      Why are we so judgemental? A team played in a supposed group of death, won all their matches and qualified in style, to you they are not still good. There’s no way they will be perfect at this stage. Remember they didn’t even play a single international friendly before this competition, unlike other teams here including Ghana, who lost 4:0 to France (a team we defeated in the first match). The same France is 1/4 final now.

      Even if they didn’t win the competition, the fact that the tournament has thrown up some very good players that can be added to the senior team is enough for me. That is the essence of this competition. Winning it is just a bonus. Let’s appreciate them. They are improving by every match.

    • felix chigbu 2 years ago

      Mr Adeyemi, or whatever you call yourself, plz go and coach your own national team let’s see how far. Instead of you to appreciate these wonderful girls, you’re busy talking trash. Bravo, Super Falconets. You are the best.

    • Are you for real?

  • Omo9ja 2 years ago

    Congratulations to Nigeria and our Falconets. Am proud of you ladies.

    However, the coach should replace the goalie as we are heading to the quarterfinals because for me, I have no confidence in that goalie because she is not reliable.

    Also, Falconets should take their chances. Canada was a strong side and they did well against Nigeria.

    Congratulations once again to Nigeria and Africa. What the foriegn coaches failed to do, our local coaches are doing it much better. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!

    • Oakfield 2 years ago

      Ahhhh….my man omo9ja, no rohr in your comment??? That’s incredible!

  • Bomboy 2 years ago

    Good job ladies!

    But our goalkeeper is a weak link in the team.

    All the best in the quarter finals.

  • Some people are busy insulting the same goalkeeper who practically won the game for us against South Korea. I am not trying to crucify the defender who passed the ball to her but if we really want to be objective, the defender should not have passed the ball to her to start with. What happened to her today is a mistake any world class goalkeeper can make. She must be angry at herself already so we do not need to rub it in further. We are not helping the team in any way with all the attack on Oyono. I think we need to cut her some slack. We need to stop all these non constructive criticism.

    • Chudynak 2 years ago

      Oga, please go and rest. Just watch how that goalkeeper will be the team’s undoing in the knockout stages, I pray the goalkeeper proves me wrong. What was the coach afraid of by not trying out another goalkeeper in the match against Canada, a match that had no impact on the team’s quarter final stake. I made a comment here that the coach should try out another goalkeeper with the match against Canada to test the matchday composure of other goalkeepers in the team to see if they have the quality to displace the current first choice but no, he decided to still play her throughout the game, what for?

    • felix chigbu 2 years ago

      Thank you very much Debo. This same goalkeeper saved our blushes during the South Korean match. The same people criticising her now were the ones singing her praises then. Just a small innocent mistake which I believe the coaches would correct subsequently, the are calling for her head. Please, let’s learn to encourage our own. Good luuck girls against Netherlands.

  • Ezomo 2 years ago

    U see every coach has a way of coaching, u can’t say a coach is shouting and talking too much while that’s the way he does his things
    Secondly u still want a coach to shout on the goal keeper while she just committed a mistake, while the keeper can be corrected during half time

  • Oakfield 2 years ago

    Congratulations to the gals. A win against a team like canada no be beans.

    • Ezomo 2 years ago

      But that’s how he does his things and he has been winning. Probably in his nature he is someone that talk very loud mistaking for shouting, most important thing is that his shouting work for him. Do we really need to tell him to change try snd reason with me

    • Ezomo 2 years ago

      Sorry not meant for u

  • ADEYEMI Temitope 2 years ago

    FM,I appreciate you. I decided not to comment because of set low reason IQ in this forum before you brought me out for good. We are good at going back to the drawing board which has not yielded any good results for us dearly but when one is putting constructive criticism in place these babies end up insulting one. At 51years, no one love Nigerian football more than I do and I love her to perform excellently well in the committee of footballing nations. I overheard someone talking back on our coach either from the Canadian stand or from the fans on the field saying “keep shouting man ” and on before that time and I been complaining that too. Other coaches communicate to their players too but not shouting or backing at their players. for a record they play football for a living which make they professional in their own right. Shouting or yelling at them even destabilize their moral. On the goalkeeper, a very good keeper but not good at distributing passes majorly with her defense and also she is not good at firm grip of the ball (always a second catch) which is dangerous. Aside this, she is good. Japan and Spain are waiting for for us. Very tactful and disciplined teams even Netherlands is no push over. Germany, Korea and United States are out of this tournament which is an ample opportunity for Nigeria to triumph….. we always like the phrase “afterwards they tried ” in which I am tired of.

    • Ezomo 2 years ago

      But that’s how he does his things and he has been winning. Probably in his nature he is someone that talk very loud mistaking for shouting, most important thing is that his shouting work for him. Do we really need to tell him to change try snd reason with me

  • I just want to say kudos to @papafem u wrote really well! Bless u.

  • Dozman 2 years ago

    @papafem you got the nail on the head. It’s a developmental competition for showcasing future stars.

  • Papafem 2 years ago

    As far as I am concerned, I am not afraid of any team in this competition any more. Apart from the fact that in the three matches they’ve played, the competition has served its purpose, the girls have also proven to us that they have the right mentality.

    The latter is so important. I love the way they flew out of the block after the Canadian goal. They showed determination, tenacity, maturity and character. They pepperd the Canadian defence right, left and centre, until their defenders and goalkeeper started comimiting forced and unforced errors. It is a winning mentality, a mindest of champions. They didn’t just wanna give up without putting up a fight. That’s so important for the team because now, we are rest assured that be it Japan, Spain, Netherlands or Brazil, we have a team that can fight.

    Again, if the essence of organising age grade competitions is to discover talents and feed the senior teams with such talents, then this tournament has served that purpose. With the skill, pace and agility of players like Onye, Sebastian, Olise, the full backs, Abiodun.and Idoko, the future of the SF is bright.

    They can be the new generation of players with the hunger and mentality to deliver us from SA and Morocco who are gradually eroding our influence on the continent in female football. I’ll rather see this team lose in the quarter final of this competition and win the next AFCON, WWC or the Olympics with these players than win this competition but lose the aforementioned tournaments with them.

    The bedrock of Nigerian solidity in senior female football are the age grade stars. Check the history. Almost all the players in the Super Falcons’ team that attended the last AWXON, save those who were born and bred abroad, have at one time or the other played for Nigeria’s junior teams. I remember the u17 team that went to Trinidad and Tobago in 2010, many have forgotten that Ordega, Okobi and Halimatu were key members of that team. I remember watching that historic quarter final match against Korea which produced 11 goals – 6 to SK, 5 to Naija. The players mentioned above played prominent roles in that very entertaining match. Can anyone think of the Super Falcon now without Okobi, Halimatu and Ordega? But without that big platform at T&T in 2010, those girls won’t be where they are now. Let’s deemphasize the win-at-all-cost syndrome destroying our age- grade teams. They are the EMBRYO of the future. If we destroy them by too much expectation, too much perfection, nepotism, tribalism and favouritism, it will be a mater of time before countries like Burundi overtakes us I female football. It’s just like asking a primary 3 pupil to solve a quadratic equation question using completing the square method. It will be quite unreasonable.

    To me, this set of girls have done very well. They have met my most basic expectation. Anything that comes to them from now on is a bonus. God bless and keep them for us. They are simply talented.

    • Chudynak 2 years ago

      Talented players also win tournaments to announce their talents!

      • Papafem 2 years ago

        Not always the case. Brazil had the most talented team at Espana 82. They didn’t win it. Same with Colombia on 1994. They went out in the first round. Besides, these players have announced themselves to the world already, or who said the world isn’t watching?

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