Nine-time African champions, Super Falcons of Nigeria, lost 2-1 to France in a keenly contested friendly at the Stade Raymond Kopa, Angers, last weekend — their fourth defeat to Les Bleues.
The Super Falcons put up a resolute display in the encounter despite the disappointing loss, carving out a number of scoring chances.
Completesports.com’s ADEBOYE AMOSU highlights the major talking points from the game…
Chiamaka Nnadozie’s Heroics
The Paris FC shot-stopper was truly at her best in the thrilling encounter. The 23-year-old made a number of crucial saves to keep the scoreline more respectable.
Nnadozie denied Delphine Cascarino after the break with a brave effort. She also made a double save four minutes from time.
New Girls Showed Promise
The game was an opportunity for the likes of Gift Monday, Blessing Nkor, and Sikiratu Isah to show they have what it takes to excel at this level.
Defender Isah was particularly impressive, coming close to scoring in the second half and making a last-ditch clearance late in the game.
Tenerife’s Monday set up Ifeoma Onumonu for the Super Falcons’ only goal of the game.
Former Yanga Princesses star Nkor also impressed on her debut for the nine-time African champions.
Imuran Struggled at Left-Back
The London City Lionesses star was deployed at left-back in the game following the absence of Oluwatosin Demehin due to injury.
Elegant defender Ashleigh Plumptre played the position under former head coach Randy Waldrum but was moved to centre-back following Demehin’s absence.
Imuran struggled against the French, with the opponents targeting her position. The two goals conceded by the Super Falcons also came from the left-back area.
Attacking Struggles Continue
The Super Falcons were without a number of regular forwards in the game, and their absence was felt.
The team struggled to put away chances at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and faced a similar problem against Les Bleues.
Perhaps the presence of players like Asisat Oshoala and Rasheedat Ajibade would have made a difference for Nigeria.
Midfield Struggles
The trio of Christy Ucheibe, Toni Payne, and Jennifer Echegini were deployed in midfield, and they struggled to hold their own against the hosts.
They were bypassed easily by the French for most of the game, which put pressure on the defence.
The three players were unable to retain possession for much of the game and also lacked creativity.
Strong Resilience
A whitewash was expected after the Super Falcons conceded two goals and fell under persistent pressure, but they held their own and reduced the deficit late in the first half.
They also stood up to the challenge of their opponents in the second half, making the scoreline more respectable.
1 Comment
I COMMEND the girls and their coach for their bravery and courage to take the bull by the horns.
That they fought back in the second half inspire the harsh weather and playing against the host send signal that though there were areas of lapses in the team, there is a bright future ahead.
I must praise Magudu for courage for calling in new players from both home and abroad to prove their mettle and find the formula where Onumonu’s quality could be utilized.
You will observe she has been struggling to excel under Walldrum but it seems if properly motivated she can be answer to the long awaited top striker since Oshoala’s zeal in national team had dwindled significantly.
Another talking point is Monday gift, she could be a lethal striker for falcon, remember her goal scoring prowess while in Nigeria, Magudu needs to find a way of deploying her in position that she would be very useful, she had been quiet for too long under Walldrum.
What I did not understand why was CHIAMAKA finding it hard to throw the ball far seeing that her defenders were loosing the ball in the last quarter of the match, the French were high pressing and our defenders were loosing ball thrown to them and she kept throwing the ball instead of licking out?
Secondly why was CHIAMAKA not replaced when it was obvious she was in pain, was fear of losing with wide margin, for crying out loud, it was a friendly match, Magudu Shou display more courage in taking bold steps by this a powerful signal would be to other player about their indispensability.