Nigeria’s Super Falcons returned to training at the Lion FC ground on Thursday ahead of their Round of 16 clash with England, reports Completesports.com.
The players were granted a two-day break following Monday’s 0-0 draw against Republic of Ireland.
All the 23 players took part in the exercise.
Midfielder Deborah Abiodun is available again after sitting out the games against Australia and Republic of Ireland due to suspension.
Randy Waldrum’s side will take on the Lionesses of England at the Lang Park, Brisbane on Monday morning.
The highly anticipated encounter will kick-off at 8.30am Nigerian time.
It will be the fourth-ever meeting between both countries.
The Lionesses won their first meeting with Nigeria , 3-2 in the final group game at the 1995 World Cup.
Since then, however, the Super Falcons have emerged victorious in each of the two friendly fixtures between the nations.
They triumphed 3-0 in a friendly in Reading in April 2004 and were 1-0 winners when the teams met in Norwich in July 2002.
By Adeboye Amosu
24 Comments
GOD must be a WOMAN.even SHAGGY SANG about it.I mean for using them to put SMILES on over 200 MILLION NIGERIAN FACES
@Monkey sincerely these ladies had put smile on our faces, I just pray this mountain ahead can be summoned.
Yes o my BROTHER.Do you know that am still LIVING with those PAIN EGUAVEON put us Through? But after that our WIN against AUSTRALIA the PAIN reduced a BIT
So we even edge them head to head? It’s a good thing England’s last match against a toothless China (after laboring to a 1 – 0 win over an average Denmark side) is giving the English an exaggerated sense of their strength, while Nigeria becomes stronger from scraping through a group of death. This is the knockout stage, so Nigeria, unlike in the previous games, Nigeria will not be sitting back and playing for a draw. Definitely, the real offensive qualities of the SF will unfold on Monday. Worthy of note too, 50% of their goals was scored by James, which makes it easy to mark her out.
@KEL if you CHECK the our EDGE over them came through FRIENDLIES..
It wasn’t COMPETITIVE.
COMPETITIVELY they already have an EDGE over US…
And on MONDAY shall be COMPETITIVE AFFAIR not a PADDY for JUNGLE AFFAIR
Great observation Mo-Post.
OGA mi 2 much TALK no dey FULL BASKET o
Hahaha.
🙂
I need clarifications on the availability of Deborah Abiodon for the England match. It was on social media that she was given 3 match suspension on match day 1
Two yellow cards, the next match only is missed. Straight red? The next two matches will be missed.
She was given an extra 1 match ban for the severity of the tackle. Now, that is not strange. Disciplinary commisiions tend to first dish out the heaviest penalties and allow the appeals commission to temper it with mercy.
Now what is strange is Did NFF APPEAL THE DECISION…??!
CAPITAL NO.
I bet they probably didnt even know or where not concerned that I could be appealed.
Instead, they (At least I have sighted Anyasi Agwu NFF VP and Aisha Falode Head of Women’s Football) are there in Australia fighting FIFA to have custody of the $60k per player they didnt work for. They are hell bent on hatching whatever plan they have of denying those girls their monies or using it to ambush them and punish whomever they have penciled down before the tournament for punishment.
FIFA should please allow themselves to be used by God to change the lives of these players forever. Once that money reaches the accounts of the NFF, trust me, we will start hearing stories we have never heard b4, like “….the national assembly is yet to approve the release of the money….”
Very irresponsible bunch of administrators.
_ NIGERIA VS ENGLAND PREVIEW _
Well, I think Waldrum will stick with his 4-2-3-1 formation for this tie. England used 3-5-2 against China which allowed their players to shine as they blitz the opposition to submission.
If England come out gung ho against Nigeria, they might be made to pay for this with the speed and counter attacking proficiency of Oshoala, Payne, Kanu and Ajibade. If these players combine well on the day, they could harm England.
Our Defensive Midfielders – Ajibade and Ucheibe – will have to continue working overtime to bail out our defence in keeping England’s world class strikers at bay.
The difference between Nigeria and England is in the quality of our routines. England have highly developed,cutting edge attacking routines which are executed to a high degree of proficiency by players on top of their game.
As for Nigeria, the ideas are there but when it comes to execution, the Super Falcons are a bit rough around the edges. Heavy touches, mistimed runs, misplaced passes, poor finishing, questionable techniques and miscommunication have blighted our attacking efforts.
But, if Randy Waldrum can address these shortcomings beforehand, then England will be up against their biggest challenge yet in this tournament.
Google has already given England a 74% win probability with Nigeria having just 8% with an 18% probability of the game going extra time. So the odds are definitely stacked against Waldrum’s Babes.
This for me will be a battle between Lauren James and Asisat Oshoala. James is pure class in how she finds space, taking aim and o hitting the bulls eye with ruthless efficiency. Oshoala is a bully, the proverbial brute
. Her aim is a bit off but her ability to ruffle defensive feathers remain and her name still instils fear even as she struggles to find her range.
But, focusing on these two snipers doesn’t do justice to the other henchwomen on both sides. Demehin and Ohale will definitely have their work cut out against the deadly Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo whilst Rasheedat Ajibade and Uchenna Kanu will be out to establish their reputations as big game strikers.
Toni Payne, on her own part, will seek to prove that, what Lauren James can do in midfield, she (Payne) can do better.
This will be one of those games where psychology will play a big role. If Nigeria allow England to take up residence in their (Nigeria) head at any point in the encounter, Google’s prediction will easily come to past.
And Mary Earps will summon all her goalkeeping credentials to ensure the Lionesses overcome their feathered foes. Her counterpart Nnadozie is also seen as a World Class goalkeeper, but for me Nnadozie has looked a bit distracted in our last 2 games.
Of the two, I think Nnadozie has a far greater challenge in trying to keep Hemp, Russo and James at bay. Not to take anything away from Oshoala, Ajibade and Kanu but our Nigerian sisters are arguably not as clinical as the English sharpshooters.
It promises to be a clash of styles. Fluid inventive football with a cutting edge vs a conservative and disciplined approach capable of
springing a suprise.
I never wanted this fixture but to be the best you have to beat the best. And that is exactly what Waldrum and his ladies will have to accomplish on Monday.
Proficiency and Nigeria’s attack (since Waldrum became coach) co-habiting in once sentence makes my blood pressure rise. While a 4 man defence to me is still looking too thin to hold on to Rolls Royce-ey English attack.
Incline onto our aid o Lord…!
I cant help being restless as Monday draws nearer by the hour.
However, the following results give me hope
Jamaica holding France to a draw.
Portugal almost knocking USA out of the tournament.
South Korea holding Germany to a draw.
Jamaica holding Brazil to a draw.
Morrocco defeating Colombia.
Morrocco defeating S.Korea
South Africa almost holding Sweden to a draw.
And finally, Nigeria holding Canada and defeating Australia.
Amazingly, all the matches you mentioned had enormous additional time too so the “giants” could have prevailed. But fate had other ideas. Can our girls hold out well till the end or should they quickly score a couple goals and lock up shop defensively till the end of the match? We have struggled to withstand pressure when match wants to end
Sir I have an issue with the previewed starting line up cos I’m wondering why Imuran is not starting game and ash plumptre moved to the center back position to provide balance tactically or maybe go for the 3-5-2 that you’ve always advocated. I sincerely hope he cahnges tact come Monday or else….let me not talk.
@ Dr Drey, so we are missing Deborah Abiobun due to negligence,and incompetency on the part of NFF. It is very patectic.
@deo nice one from you as usual, i belive we will win the match on monday, england though is a very strong side but our difense can cope, those girls are like men on guard they will definately shield us through, our attack will pose more surprises without oshoala starting the match, i will prefer giftmonday in this game becos of a speed and ability to hit target, kanu ajibade and gift will do the english more harm as they are unpredetable expecially when they rotate the central forward position among them selves, they will be a more advance bayana attack, as three of them have hunger and young. to be honest onomonu and oshoala should start from the bench or rather not come in at all, i prefer the young girls take over attacks, the likes of esther and jenifer can offer more against england because its a fast and athletic game against england. Abiodun can not be missed, though the red card is quite unfair to her, but she got the chance bcos halimatu was also suspended, if bot abiodun cant start ahead of halimatu, halimatu is far ahead of the young łady, abiodun can also cover for uchebo, but that will be if they are tired, our midfield is so Perfect with uchebo and halimatu behind payne, the midfield can not be stronger than this, it like pogba matuidi and kante, honestly i am not afraìd of england my prayer is for our girls to play like the boss.
Haba bro. Benching Oshoala, even if it appears to be a better option, is like saying we should bench Osimhen in super eagles. This is our biggest match ever and it is better to play “experienced” players first to “manage” the game. It may not be ideal but in a knockout game like that, playing Oshoala is like putting “our best foot forward”. What is the guarantee that her replacements will not be edgy on the field knowing they would soon be substituted and how many have been “exposed” to millions of “monitoring spirits” to be famed or shamed? Gamble not worth risking even if it should be allowed
A goal against the Irish would have put them up against the Dane against whom they could have a chance.
However, beat England and I don’t in all honesty see Jamaica or Columbia as a threat in the quarter finals. Black skin get e levels
Hi guys….greetings to all of u,@ Dr drey nice u wrote well u see our administrators always do the wrong thing sometimes i wonder if they have passion for the game i hope their presence with the ladies over there will not cause distraction to the players.
This will sound somehow, but it is a good idea for the coach Waldrum team if he can listen to this my advice once again. Oshoala should start from the bench on Monday.
Now, Oparanozie is more dangerous and clinical in front of a goal than any of our strikers. So, she should start the match against England ahead of Oshoala and Onumonu.
Hmmm. More so, Oparanozie is the most experienced strikers and she is a big player. She proved that against Cameroon in Cameroon.
History may repeat itself if Asisat Oshoala starts the match for Nigeria.
Oshoala has never impressed in any big match for Nigeria. Oparanozie always does.
More so, we have two clinical strikers in Oparanozie and Gift Monday.
These two strikers are the weapons for coach Waldrum against the English team on Monday.
Gift Monday, and Oparanozie should start the match while Oshoala and Onumonu should start from the bench.
English team has array of star players, no doubt, but they have been struggling in this tournament against Haiti and Denmark.
James is their main dangerous player in that team. They have other players, though, and James is very dangerous if given a space in front of a goal. England has never tested in this tournament, and Nigeria will test their intelligence on Monday.
We are fearing the name “England,” but the name won’t play the match but the players.
If Haiti could hold their own against England, then Nigeria would have so much to prove to the world on Monday.
For me, I have no pressure on me. In fact, i can’t wait to watch the match. The pressure will be on England, not only the Nigerian team, shikena. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
Oga u don tok finish oya make i tok my own ” U NO SABI BALL,MR IRE O”. oya come and beat me.