The Technical Director of Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Austine Eguavoen has praised the Super Falcons’ showing in their two-legged international friendly match against the USA women despite ending in defeats, Completesports.com reports.
The Stars and Stripes of the United States defeated the Super Falcons of Nigeria 2-1 in the second of their two back-to-back friendlies at the Audi Field, USA on Tuesday, September 6.
Blessing Demehin’s own goal gave the USWNT (United States Women’s National Team) the lead after 24 minutes. Uchenna Kanu equalised for Nigeria in the 50th minute. However, Rose Lavelle scored the winner for the home team 16 minutes later.
Also Read: Super Falcons Shift Attention To Japan After USA Friendlies
The USWNT had earlier defeated the Super Falcons 4-0 on Saturday, September 3 at the Children’s Mercy Park, USA in the first friendly encounter.
A brace from Sophia Smith and goals from Lindsey Horan and Alex Morgan completed the rout.
Eguavoen took to his Twitter handle to commend Randy Waldrum’s team for the improvement displayed in that second friendly.
“Solid game. Kudos to Waldrum’s girls for how compact they were today. What a well-taken curler from Uchenna Kanu as well. All these against the might of the USWNT. Signs of growth are there,” the former Super Eagles coach tweeted.
The Super Falcons will participate in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup which will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, scheduled to hold from July 20 to August 20, 2023.
The Super Falcons have qualified for all editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
By Toju Sote
4 Comments
Retrospective Observations: USA 1-2 Super Falcons
The Waldrum-Lauren Gregg tutored Super Falcons gave the United States women’s soccer team a run for their money in the second leg of their September friendly that ended in a pulsating 2:1 encounter on Tuesday.
With limited practice and jet lag contributing to the 4:0 loss in the first leg three days prior, the Super Falcons showed the sort of credible, compelling and competitive displays they could produce when well primed.
Playing a diamond 4-4-2 formation in the first half, the Super Falcons opened up gaps along the channels which allowed the Americans whip several perilous crosses into delicate areas of Nigeria’s 18 yard box. One of those cunning crosses would eventually lead to an own goal by Demehin in 24 minutes.
The Americans could have added to their lead due to how open and loose Nigeria were in their play and the problems inherent in the 4-4-2 diamond formation. These problems included just having one defensive midfielder and inadequate support the fullbacks of Ogbonna and Imuran were receiving from the further forward wingers.
However, after Nigeria reverted to the 4-2-3-1 formation in the second half, their attack had more bite with the introduction of Kanu and their centre defence had the buffer of two defensive midfielders in front of them which allowed the wingers to be more effective defensively without falling too deep.
Kudos have to be given to Waldrum and Gregg for tweaking the formation which eventually led to the eloquently bent beauty of a curler from Kanu that made the scoreline 1:1 in 50 minutes.
The Americans were visibly rattled. The openings they found along Nigeria’s channels dried up and their crosses were effectively dealt with by Nigeria’s tweaked defensive infrastructure. Kanu was causing no end of problems for the Americans on the other side as several of her crosses had to be addressed.
It took the introduction of their talis-woman the legendary Megan Rapinoe who managed to crack open Nigeria’s implacable defence with a world class cross to Lavelle whose deceptive header left Nnadozie flummoxed before creeping into the net via the post.
2:1 it ended.
I now go into my five observations for the encounter.
Observations:
1, Demehin and Imuran impressed a lot. it was always a gamble to play recent U-20 defenders against the great USA but this duo more than held their own. Despite shaky starts (not helped by the loose first half formation) the youngsters recovered strongly with compelling, sturdy tackles and interceptions. Long balls from Demehin to attack caught the eye as was how they adjusted to the new formation when they had cover.
2, Onyi Echegini has valuable contributions to make to the Super Falcons’ midfield. She did start rather slowly due to the formation but her touches were neat and she tried to bring players in with incisive passes.
3, Alozie and T. Payne are more effective offensively. Again, the formation in the first half limited their effectiveness but overall they were two of the sparkling players for Nigeria throughout the encounter.
4, Christie Ucheibe continues to be an unsung hero. She provided valuable cover for the young Demehin and Imuran with her recovery tackles and interceptions. She helped to play out from the back and she didn’t allow herself to be overawed by the calibre of the opposition. With someone else to partner her, Nigeria’s defensive midfield department will be sturdy as it was in the second half.
5, Randy Waldrum is yet to win over doubters. Many fans credit Nnadozie for her exceptional, breathtaking saves which kept the scoreline manageable, if not, Waldrum’s first half formation wouldn’t have withstood the onslaught of the Americans. But he has to be credited for tweaking the formation which almost led to a most unlikely 1:1 draw.
Despite the reassuring performance, the fact remains that Nigeria still hasn’t won any game in their last four matches. A win for the Super Falcons is long overdue. Will it come against mighty Japan next month? We will have to wait and see.
Correction :
USA 2-1 Super Falcons.
*my original header was wishful thinking* 🙂
@Deo,
This is a gem of an analysis. Take five, mon ami.
Thanks KingA.
Much appreciated.