Super Falcons head coach Randy Waldrum is banking on his side’s athleticism to overcome the Three Lionesses of England.
Nigeria and England will clash in a Round of 16 fixture at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup at the Lang Park, Brisbane on Monday.
England will head into the game as the overwhelming favourites but Waldrum reckoned his team’s speed and power will help them overpower the European champions.
“The one difference between us and China is that they don’t have our speed and our strength,” the American told reporters.
“China were organised, but England were too powerful and played around them.
“We will have to use our strengths to neutralise England.”
The American however admitted though England will be a huge challenge for his team.
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“The match against England will be another challenge, but I think the players are up to it,” he assured.
“We’re playing the European champions and they are champions for a reason. They are a good team, we know that and we respect that.
“They are extremely talented, Lucy Bronze and Rachel Daly on the flanks, the way Lauren James is playing and creating all sorts of havoc upfront, Ruso is playing, the whole group.
“But the players know that we played the Olympic Gold medalists (Canada) and Australia, two top 10 teams in the world. They won’t be intimidated by the moment.
He added: “They will give you everything they have. They will come out against England.
“We believe we can get a result.
“Now is the time to go and perform.”
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COMMENTS
I still maintain that The Nigeria Team can match any team in the world player for player in terms of talents. Only tactics and administratives issues can let SF down. Yeah , in terms of strength and speed SF have a huge advantage to beat England like they beat Australia.
Well spoken coach Waldrum. You install confidence in your players as always, and I believe this will help our Super Falcons in this tournament.
England is playing against 9 times African champions, so we have a pedigree as well.
The only thing I am really worried about is that Super Falcons should not respect this English team. That is all.
Australia with their crowds intimidating us but we came out victorius. Glory be to God for his mercy.
As I said earlier, pressure is on the English team, not on Super Falcons.
To make things worse for the English ladies, Super Falcons have to score early goals. This is why we need two dangerous strikers against the English team on Monday. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
Watching aspects of England’s three games in the tournament thus far, I think defence is their achilles heel.
Funny that because they have one of the best goalkeepers in the world in Mary Earps who has proven time and again to be capable of bailing out the wall in front of her.
The fact that England conceded just one goal in thier group stage matches doesn’t foreclose the fragility they have at the back.
Haiti breached the defence as also Denmark did but again their trusted goalkeeper came to the rescue.
If Oshoala has successfully worked on her precision in training, then mount intolerable pressure on that England defence.
Onumonu is never one to compress or exert pressure on opposition defence the way say Ajibade, Monday or Kanu would do. But, paradoxically, Onumonu possesses slightly superior finishing technique when she is in position to pull the trigger.
We have players that can hurt England in front.
This is one game where I will advocate for Ordega to start. She has the vision and experience to help the team maintain its shape whilst providing invaluable support to defensive efforts.
This game is for true leaders, players who have something to prove, players who have unwavering belief in their ability to go toe to toe with England. Ordega ticks this box. Offensive she is not as effective but structurally, she is an invaluable brick that can help repel the threats of Hemp, James and Co. (so long as she is now more careful with tackles inside the 18 yard box).
If everything goes to, England will be in for a unique challenge in Nigeria. Waldrum, in my view, has given too much away in stating that Nigeria will leverage its athletism, speed and physicality in addition to the now Patented level of organisation.
We need players who can focus on their brief for prolonged period with the big names players in our ranks ready to produce big performances.
Oshoala has to turn up. The players have to feed her. She already showed against Canada and Australia what sort of confusion she can cause in opposition box 18s. But Kudos has to go to the suppliers of those long balls notably Payne and Plumptre.
Since those long balls are Oshoala’s bread and butter, they have to be delivered ever more regularly, ever more accurately. Oshoala must not only see those balls as an opportunity to score from a tight angle, these also provide openings to win penalties and thread passes for a potential assist.
But it is at the back that I worry. Against Australia and Canada, our defence was caught napping at times: where these two teams failed to capitalise, England wouldn’t be that generous.
Also, let’s be honest, there are certain efforts at goal that are just unstoppable, full stop. The tried and tested cutting edge techniques that England strikers employ are simply jaw dropping. With England strikers, there methods are of the highest level and greatest quality in national team world football at the moment.
Doesn’t mean they are unstoppable, no! But our defensive apparatus can’t afford to be asleep on the wheel for just one second: one second is all it will take for England to pounce. When Nigeria then becomes desperate to equalise, this will just create opportunity for England to add to their lead.
But Ayinde and Ucheibe are more than capable. Ayinde and Alozie are dailled in. Ordega, Kanu and Ajibade are fully alive to their defensive responsibilities. With these players on top of their game with impeccable levels of concentration, then the England strikers might face more frustration than they bargained for.
I worry about Plumptre, Ogbonna and Demehin to be honest. These three defenders have need credit facilities from other players like Ayinde who are only too happy to loan their support. These three will need to be a lot more assertive on the day.
Simply put, Nigeria do create scoring chances and will do against England. They just need to be razor sharp with finishing. At the back, high level sustained concentration is called for. Elimination of needles mistakes and ability to play players to their strength might see the scale tip in our favour.
England Coach said that he would exploit our weakness to beat us while Nigeria Coach emphasized on Super Falcon strength to beat England.
90 or 120 mins would speak volume on the match day