Super Falcons head coach Randy Waldrum says there is a great spirit in the team’s camp of Thursday’s clash against Australia.
The encounter against Australia will be the Nigeria’s second game at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand
The Super Falcons played out a 0-0 draw in their game with Canada on 21st of July.
In a video posted on the Super Falcons Twitter handle, Waldrum highlighted the good mood in the camp and mentioned the use of yoga to calm the players’ nerves.
“Well, I think it’s good,” Waldrum remarked.
“Yesterday, on game day plus one we just did recovery training for those players that played a lot of minutes.
“Got some yoga, got some recovery training, got them in the pool, the hot and cold tub and gave them a little bit of a break in the afternoon to go shopping and sight seeing around the hotel.
“It was good for them to be out they’ve been so isolated in camp and then today we’ll be training in the evening since our matches are going to be late in the evening. The next two matches will be at 8. pm so we want to simulate that.
“We’ll see how training goes tonight but so far the camp looks to be in a very good place right now. Keep supporting us, we appreciate the support, all the messages I’ve gotten from back home in Nigeria, as well as the Nigerians here in Australia there was great support in the stadium, just keep sending positive vibes to the team because we’re in this all together.”
The Super Falcons and Canada are currently joint second in Group B with one point after their first game.
Australia occupy first position in the group with three points from one game, while the Republic of Ireland are last with zero point.
Super Falcons best showing at the FIFA Women’s World Cup was a quarter final finish at the USA’ 99 tournament.
37 Comments
Good.
Quick question, do we have a good replacement for the fine lady( Deborah Abiodun) that got red card in the match against Canada?
She is midfield defender, very important role.
Halitosis Ayinde is a natural replacement. Abiodun wouldn’t have played at all if Halimatu wasn’t suspended
Thanks for your response and happy to hear that.
Deborah Abiodun is also very good. Meaning we have reliable ladies for that position.
God bless Nigeria
Of course, we are praying and fully supporting our team, Super Falcons.
You showed that you knew what you were doing. But you have to do more if we have to go very far in this tournament.
You wanted to defend, and at the same time, you wanted to attack, but you have to use the right players to execute your game plans.
We could see the introduction of Kanu and Echiegini. As I said in another article today, against Australia, Onuachu and Asisat Oshoala must not start the match while Odega should be putting on the bench from now on.
Gift Monday…..Gift Monday…..Gift Monday. That young lady should be a coache’s Waldrum weapon. Same as Kanu.
There are three players that have to start the match against Australia on Thursday. Oparanozie, Gift Monday and Echiegini.
Coach Waldrum should start Oparanozie, Gift Monday,Kanu, and Echiegini. Onumonu and Asisat Oshoala can come in the second half.
Although, I appreciate coach Waldrum effort by using our young players at the World Cup. Something that Oga Rohr could not do during his time at the World Cup. That French/German tactician even benched Iwobi for no reason. Eguavoen did not use our little Messi against Ghana during the World Cup qualifiers. Age is just a number. If we see a talented player, the quality will tell.
We haven’t heard coach Waldrum saying my team is young so far. Rather, he benched Onome Ebi, the most experienced players in the team, for a new player. Impressive.
Late substitutions can’t help you coach Waldrum. Falcons would have won the match against Canada had he brought in Oparanozie, Gift Monday, Kanu, and Echiegini against Canada. Although Echiegini and Kanu were brought in but it was too late.
My key points are,
No1. Coach Waldrum should be making early substitutes from now on. Canadian coach made his substitutions at the right time. Nothing is stopping coach Waldrum from making his substitutions early.
No2. Onumonu and Asisat should start from the bench.
No3. Odega has tried for Nigeria, and she can only play for 2 to 3 minutes. The same thing applies to Ebi.
Good luck, coach. God bless Nigeria!!!
Thanks brother for this invaluable analysis !
You are welcome my man. God bless us all. God bless Nigeria!!!
This is a fantastic and excellent point on Super Falcons coach and the players how the next match should be handled.
I just honestly wish this can get to the coach or any of CS team can send this to him. This is apt and invaluable point
Hahaha, iwo Omo9ja yi sha!
So your problem with Rohr is that he said his team is young?
Anyway, as usual, I disagree with your opinion on Rohr.
But I agree with your comments on Waldrum’s timing of substitutions. He waited so late to sub in players, perhaps because he thought the players on the field were doing the job, and he didn’t want to change the dynamic. The Abiodun tackle that led to her sending off perhaps occurred because she was tired. If she had been subbed off, a fresher midfielder might have not resorted to that rough tackle.
I would suggest a 3-5-2 against the Aussies.
Nnadozie
Ohale, Demehin, Plumptre
Alozie, Ucheibe, Echegini, Ayinde, Payne
Ajibade, Kanu (or any combo out of Oparanozie, Oshoala and Onumonu)
Or a 3-4-3
Nnadozie
Ohale, Demehin, Plumptre
Alozie, Ucheibe, Ayinde, Payne
Ajibade, Oparanozie, Kanu
I prefer 3 center backs. But if it has to be 2, then a 4-3-3 will be my choice:
Nnadozie
Alozie, Ohale, Demehin, Plumptre
Ucheibe, Echegini, Ayinde
Ajibade, Oparanozie, Kanu
The center forward position is between Oparanozie and Oshoala. Oparanozie can start to bully the defenders, and Oshoala can come in later to take advantage of the exhausted defenders.
At 60 mins or thereabouts, Waldrum should be looking to make subs to bring in fresh legs.
At the end of the day, these are just suggestions. Waldrum is the man on ground working with the ladies. So he has inside info we don’t have.
We must respect his decisions!
I left out Payne in the 4-33 formation. It’s a toss up between her and Echegini. Waldrum will have to decide.
Waldrum will not play Oparanozie you people should stop dreaming because he can not stop playing onumonu for 90mins neither will he sub misfiring Oshoala. Neither will he play Imuran at her natural position to utilise the teams weapon in her from left back but he will bench her for Plumtre. We end up losing or drawing matches if we don’t start scoring goals.
Neither will he stop playing tired Ordega!!!
oshoala is d new target of some ppl , its understandable sha , but if shes not loosing a goal opportunity or mispositioning i see no reason to blame her ..
somone even said imuran shld play ahead of plumtre ,,, naija online coaches ,, i also wish for oshoala to stay on d bench for d next game but dat wudnt apen a world class player cant be bench wen shes not misfiring ,,,
we played a defensive match and ppl are blaming a striker wen dere is no supply …
i bliv we cud av won against canada if d coach had made early sub ,,, dats all
When you are clueless you bark at observant people. You think Plumtre was the best left back we have right? When you have no opinion just zip your mouth.
wen ure stupid u come online to blame d player dat played her out her and gave a gud account of hersef, imuran was goin to score 3goals in first half ..
she commit no error and push forward atimes but fools like ursef wnt her out ..
Yeye talk you don’t even understand what you’re writing.
Dome of you are just haters and ethnic jolingoists. Asisat still remains Africa’s most successful femake soccer player and the greatest of all Time and as long as she is fit , she will always be selected ahead of Oparanozie, Onuomonu, Kanu and others.
Some of you guys should stop the hatred because your comments are really destructive and delusional. From the last match, it was obvious that the coach wanted to defend and Asisat did her job of holding up and allowing others to join or winning free kick to reduce the pressure. You ignore Onuomonu who killed most counter attack initiated by Payne or Asisat in that match, she cant make a simple pass or cross and ended up with below 45% passing rate.
It’s pretty obvious that if Asisat was from your tribe and a GK from a different tribe was selected as a captain, some of you would have filled the space with cries and ignorant rhetoric of stolen mandates or discrimination.
Some of you are not always happy the moment the strlarting 11 is not dominated by your tribe. It’s time you
Stoppped your hatred and learn from other tribes.
The same madness made shameless Nwokocha that made her to ignore Asisat and vote a player from another country for the AFOTY.
Asisat is now your target and her only sin is because she is a successful woman.
Larry Shut up and stop calling people names…
So because of her personal achievements which is not in doubt she should continue to play nonsense and squander our rare chances,instead of being an inspiration she’s supposed to be for the team?
Big players inspires and lifts their teams when the going gets tough…
So don’t play the ethnic card here…I don’t know why Nigerians are always sentimental and very emotional in reasoning and decision making…
That was how some of you saw nothing wrong in bringing on corrupt old cargo as president, who in turn has succeeded in bringing back corrupt,retired old and even new thieving politicians to make this country unbearable for both their loyalists and everyone else…. Omo shey we are enjoying it now….
Stop being sentimental Nigerians
@cuteprince or @shutupprince, may be you watched a different game or from a myopic TV.
You are here ranting about missed chances as if Asisat was the one that missed the best chance of the match.
You are here fuming about leadership as if Asisat was not the one shoeing leadership talking to the girls and calming their nerves in that match. Someone with an open mind would read the other comments and come up with a balance opinion and not avoid spewing gibberish about politics. If you wanna talk about politics, in as much as the three leading candidates remain the same and under same circumstances, the winner will always win because the best of the three evils will get more vote.
I still stand by my comments and no one can shut me down.
Has anyone asked Nwokocha why she ignored Asisat and voted for a camerounian for AFOTY.
Have you wondered the type of ethnic coloration that would have filled net if the captainship was the other way round.
Have you ever wondered who ganged up against the team when Asisat was the captain and how they made her loose interest when they lost the Olympics ticket.
Let’s call a spade a spade.
In as much as I agree with you on ASISAT OSHOALA being the GOAT of Female Football in Africa as at this moment, I do not COMPLETELY agree that it’s ETHNIC SENTIMENTS because @OMO9JA and @POMPEI are YORUBAS!
The problem is the Coach. Same mistake WESTERHOFF made in SENEGAL 92 where he left NDUKA UGBADE on the bench and played EMEKA EZEUGO at RB and pushed a natural RB REUBEN AGBOOLA as LB
Why should the Coach be limiting the inputs of ASHLEY PLUMPTYRE by playing her at LB when he has natural LB like ROFIA IMUARAN on the bench??
If ASISAT OSHOALA could score goals in U20, LIVERPOOL, CHINESE WL, BARCELONA and under other SF Coaches, how is she misfiring under WALDRUM?
No sane Coach will bench his BIGGEST AND BEST PLAYER unless INJURED!
OLIVER GIROUD didn’t have 1 SINGLE SHOT ON TARGET in 2018 WC and was never dropped
You know @Larry, I rarely get into all these tribal brickbats here, but you give yourself away easily over and over again as an ethnic jingoist while accusing others of doing so. And that’s typical of tribalists, they’re often the first and loudest to point to others while the rest four fingers are pointing back at them.
You’d hardly know I’m Deltan. In fact, someone once accused me of being Youruba cos I spoke highly of Awoniyi. In the same vein, while you may be able to tell that Dr. Drey, Deo, Pompei, Mahmud, Papafem, Omonaija etc are Yoruba, you’ll not find proof to accuse them of tribalism. They analyse players, coaches, and matches purely from the standpoint of merit and performance.
Deo has been doing a fantastic job providing insightful reports on the SF, even a lot more than CS journalists. Can you point out ethnic bias there, aside merit-based analysis? And imagine Drey, a Yoruba, taking me and several other forumites on, for daring to criticise my own pretty sister, Ifeoma Onumonu. And who’s the voltron of Musa and Ighalo on this forum? You know who!
Same with JimmyBall, his submissions are devoid of tribal bias, whereas he’s midlle beltan (Idome, I think). Same for my Igbo brothers here. In fact, most forumites here are that way, unbiased, non-tribalistic, thankfully so. Jimmy is even one of the biggest critics of Moses Simon! But if it’s you, nobody can criticise Moses Simon, otherwise the person is a tribalist. Moses Simon will never do bad in your eyes.
But you, Larry, and 2 other guys (not going to mention them now. I wanted to mention one other particular one now, but no need) dye-in-the-wool ethnic jingoist. If someone like you becomes a coach, it’s all over for that team. Look inwards first, man.
@Kel,you can do better than this. At this point i dont give a damn whatever anyone thinks about my comment because its got to that point where we need to call out the ones that have resorted to attacking players without facts.
We just played a draw against the Olympics champion and one of the best teams in the world. Why disrespect any of the players without facts.
I backed up my comments with several observations.
Sorry man if I went in a bit too hard there @Larry. You’re a fine analyst, but you need to tone it down a bit on in that regard. Most forumites don’t even see the names when they’re analyzing a player. But, yes, there are people with an ethnic-bIas mindset here (every tribe), but don’t become one while trying reacting to them. Big ups. I have great friends who are Yoruba (Sola, Wale, Bola), Igbo (Uche, Kosi, John), and Hausa(Ibrahim), and it irks me when people get sentimental online.
As Cuteprince and Mahmud Shuaib said, ethnic considerations are far from the issue here.
Oshoala is playing well, she’s just not scoring at the moment. Perhaps expectations are too high, based on her club performances. At Barca, she’s surrounded by very creative players, and is hardly ever starved of service. With Nigeria, the service is almost nonexistent. With better service, she will likely do better.
Selection ultimately is Waldrum’s headache.
A fit Oparanozie is also a potent weapon, as we all know. And there are other capable subs available. Waldrum can decide to give any of them a run out.
The funny thing is Oshoala could explode in the next match. A big player is capable of this at any time. We just have to be patient and allow the coach to do his job.
@pompei, my comments are based on series of unholy patterns observed in comment by some who have consistently beclouded their comments with ethnic coloration.
Asisat is now their target. She was declared the greatest of all time, they came up with Neokocha. She won the AFOTY, they brought up the camerounian or South African. This hatred needs to stop.
A good analyst will consider the match plan and the level of supply from the midfield before blaming a striker.
You get agitated and disconcerted when someone sends a harmless post containing reproval of someone from your tribe,you become mental and get all emotional.
Sadly,you not the only one in this forum.
Because of a harmless post i sent sometime last year during the under 16 female world cup some people choose not to pertake in football discuss with me,members who normally share football ideas,you dare not say anything that come across as bad to them about their tribe otherwise they unfriend you forever.
However,often on this forum members send very unpleasant and offensive posts about the northerners and other tribes,sad to say,they are ok with that,but should they?Are the northerners not Nigerians?Why can’t same emotion not broaden or spread out to other regions?Why is it limited to just a tribe?But yet we support the super falcons,who are they representing?The west?The north?East or S.s?
It is easy to spot tribalists,we have them in numbers here in the forum sadly.When people have allegiance or are overly loyal to their own region you can as well view them as tribalists.
Look at who is talking, everyone on this forum knows your game. I expected you to come out of your hatred enclosures since i stated the real fact about the attitudes of you and your cohorts on this forum.
You are looking for way to get at me since i put you where you belong. You are calling an insult to other tribes as harmless. You are calling disrespect to over 100 million population an harmless comments.
I hope you dont want to go back to the old ugly days where you displayed your animosity and hatred for other tribes on this forum. You Sunny and I called you out.
Stop playing the emotional game here, you are one of the people my comments are directed to.
Just stop it. You made valid points but you also played the tribal card on this issue. Greenturf was ripped apart here during the U17 WorldCup for the same comment and I can recall he apologized to the forum.
I’ve gone through the thread and I don’t see anything wrong in what Chima said about Osoala even though I don’t always agree with him. The same way he blames Osoala he also blames Onumonu. To be fair Onumonu actually did better than Asisat in that game but he didn’t spare both of them.
Let’s analyze our points without throwing the tribal card at every opportunity. Obviously, we are a country of many tribes, but the only thing that unites us as a nation is football and we need to remove tribal divisions when discussing it.
How Super Falcons Seek to Harm Oppositions (part 1)
To be honest, it was a bit difficult in real time to decipher how the Super Falcons attempted to create goals scoring opportunities in their first game. Some observers went as far as concluding that Waldrum’s angels did not display any clear goal scoring strategy against Canada – for me, nothing could be further from the truth.
But yes, in a match where they largely focused on containing the opposition with focus, defensive discipline and pristine organisation, it was easy to miss the identity the Falcons tried to craft in how they carve out goals scoring opportunities.
Here, I will seek to highlight the routines, techniques and manoeuvres the Super Falcons employed in trying to bulge the back of the net.
As the Super Falcons achieved their objectives in coming out of that match with a positive result, I won’t be surprised if Waldrum sticks to the same chances creation/goals scoring template. After all Nigeria executed 8 shots on goal and generated 6 corner kicks from their attacking forays in the first match. It follows therefore that Waldrum will seek to improve on these stats by retaining the methods that created those opportunities in a manner that will aid the team in honing these methods to perfection, rather than adopting whole new methods.
Part 2
Super Falcons Approaches To Scoring Goals
1. Route One, Long Balls: the sole centre forward Oshoala attempted to latch on to long balls from Abiodun, Plumptre, Alozie and Demehin.
These long balls were not adequately executed particularly by Abiodun – her long balls were wayward to say the least. The one delivered by Plumptre came closest to causing a goal but Oshoala fluffed her lines.
These long balls can be improved upon to be a valuable instrument in Nigeria’s attacking toolkit.
2. Crosses and Pullouts: Ordega and Alozie delivered 4 crosses between them in the against Canada on the right side whilst this was barren on the left side as Onumonu and Plumptre struggled to get into the right space to deliver.
Oshoala (if she continues to be the sole center forward) needs crosses flying in left right and even center. Crosses surely are one of the go-to strategies that Waldrum is banking on to unlock defences.
If that is the cases, he needs wingers and fullbacks who are adept at these deliveries. Hence the decision to play Onumonu and Plumptre on the flanks needs reviewing.
3. Cut-ins and Long Range Strikes: This is where Onumonu and Plumptre shine. Both are known for delivering bullet long range strikes in play or in dead ball situations. In fact Nigeria’s best chance against Canada came as a result of Onumonu’s belter from range which stung the palms of the goalkeeper. She likes to cut in from the right flank to unleash ferocious shots; Uchenna Kanu also cuts in from the flanks to curl efforts into the net (she was fouled as she attempted this against Canada). They are both huge threats in this scenario. Even Abiodun (1st half) and Ucheibe (2nd half) attempted long range strikes which ballooned to the stands but the intention was clear proving that Waldrum Okays this approach.
Onumonu and Plumptre definitely belong to this highest level of football. If utilised and positioned properly, their deliveries could be invaluable in bulging the backs of nets in the tournament.
4. Throw-ins: One lesser known defence unlocking strategy of the Super Falcons is Ashleigh Plumptre’s deceptive throw-ins close to opposition box. She has different variations of this: one is direct and the other like a through pass. Both almost connected with Oshoala to cause Canada problems, one almost led to a penalty kick had Oshoala being rough-handled when trying to retrieve the ball. Another led to Onumonu being hit on the head just outside Canada’s 18 yard box.
These throw-ins have the potential to lead to assists or pre-assists to goals.
nice anyalysis . a striker depends on supply in a case where ur team is defending the striker is isolated upfront …. i just dnt knw y dey kip attacking oshoala dis is aw dey will push d lady out of d team for deir tribe dominance ..
There’s more inane than when someone, anyone plays the race or tribal card out of context. Quite zany.
IT SIMPLY DOES NOTHING FOR YOU. It’s a disservice to you and everyone. It helps no one.
@Larry
I respect your view on Asisat, great player. In fact she’s legendary but to be candid, she hasn’t been that prolific for the National team recently. The last Wafcon comes to mind.
Maybe it’s the system or mental or low drive playing for the country; she simply hasn’t played to her level.
Hopefully she does. We do need her.
It’s ok to criticise constructively when necessary after all it is for our benefit.
There’s nothing more….
@Hush, thank you brother man. It’s just insane that some people believe that they have the right to pick on players because of her tribe.
It’s on this forum that this same set of people called the falconer and the U-20 teams coaches out because the team is not dominated by certain tribes. These two teams ended up doing well against all odds.
Imagine if the captain band thing was the other way round, the internet or this page would have been filled with silly rhethorics.
Larry, we both want the same thing. Success for the Super Falcons. Oshoala is the main striker in the squad, but the coach may feel he needs something different from what she can offer. That’s the whole point of having a deep bench.
Oshoala is like a cheetah. Speed is her weapon. Oparanozie is different. She is like the battering ram, a striker that can pummel and harass opposing defenders to exhaustion. The way Drogba used to do at Chelsea, and the way Osimhen is doing at Napoli. Both ladies will be very useful in this world cup campaign, if used correctly. A coach’s strategy might be to start Oparanozie, with the objective of wearing out the opponents’ defense. And then bring in the speedster Oshoala to finish work. Whatever strategy Waldrum has in mind, he has our full support.
Regarding Oshoala, the lack of service is a big reason she’s not replicating her Barca performances. The girl needs service. Perhaps Waldrum can work on that, to get her colleagues to provide those crosses and passes she can feast on, as she does so regularly at her club.
As forumites have commented at length here, we don’t care where the players come from. I personally don’t give a flying fish about the player’s ethnic origin. I just need the best out there representing us.
You have two players, one is more of power and the other is ahead on skills. Besides,one is a world class and has a better goal per match ratio.
When last did you watch Oparanozie play a full game or start a match. How many goals did she score for her team ? I’m sure if she really fits into the game plan she would have played at dome point. The coach sees these players in training and knows which player fits into his plan. Perhaps, Asisat performed against Canada.
On current form,we know who is a better option.
-My Question is, how many match has Oshoala played in total under waldrum? Even against South Africa at the last cup, she got injured. Currently, she’s the best we have in Europe and judging by our pattern of play against Canada (defensive), I won’t judge Oshoala with just one game. If not for this our last game that proved most people wrong, Onumonu has been under criticism since. Oparanozie that people have been clamoring for now, it was the last World Cup 4 years ago that most of us really watched her play any live game then May be recent friendly that she scored a goal.
One thing I believe is…wether we perform well or not in this tournament, with the introduction of some young players like Ajakaiye, Onyenezide, etc, we’ll get it right. After all, nobody even expected a draw against a team like Canada after battling with bonuses and other issues against NFF.
So, let’s sit back and enjoy the tournament I beg.
Hello -Did anyone here know that Canada have a Man playing for their women’s team?
His name is Quinn! This is an ACTUAL MAN OH!!
All I know is that I felt like something was not right with the player who put a very hard tackle in on Oshoala in the first 15 mins of our game against them, at the time, I thought to myself- what a bad tackle because all the studs on one foot were showing in that tackle and Oshoala showed a lot of resilience to carry on after that tackle, I genuinely felt that the player should have been at the very least shown a yellow card even though it was actually a red card tackle in all fairness, but the player did not even get any card for that horror tackle and only got a talking to by the referee
To now find out that even after the injustice of that tackle on Oshoala, the person who put in the dangerous tackle is also a MAN?? The player is called Quinn- please for reference go and watch the tackle on Oshoala again – I mentioned it during the game itself, complaining about the reckless tackle without even knowing that the player himself is a MAN – Chaii only God can help us oh!
These people now have men playing in their women’s only team and we do not even know about it – You would think that there would be a rule at the very least that if you have a man playing in your “all women’s team” you should at least be required to announce the fact abi?
This one the one hand is really infuriating and just shows the sinful world we live in today and the extent these Whities will go to to cheat and try to offend God but also it gives me another perspective on our (Super Falcons) achievement in holding those cheats to a draw oh! The guy played the whole 90 minutes and was not substituted!
Oh Lord – may your Kingdom come and cover every grain of sand and every blade of grass on this our planet, May Your will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Lord!
We thank you for your promise never to wipe out humanity again and we eagerly await your return Lord Jesus!