Completesports.com’s Live Blogging of the Dominican Republic 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Group A matchday-3 game between the Flamingos of Nigeria and Las Quisqueyanas of Dominican Republic at Felix Sanchez Stadium, Santo Domingo.
Nigeria Vs Dominican Republic Live Blogging – Dominican Republic 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup; Group A, Matchday-3
Nnamdi Ezekute
Nnamdi Ezekute, a sports reporting expert, has risen through the ranks at Complete Communications Limited (CCL) famed for publications like Complete Sports.
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X (Formerly Twitter): @Ezekutive
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First time watching the Flamingos, and wow I must say, I’m pleasantly surprised! These girls are way more technically gifted than their older U20 sisters, yet they’re the “baby” team. If they could just sprinkle a bit of calm and clarity in that final third, trust me, they could go all the way and beyond!
Now, let’s talk about the long-range rockets these girls keep launching. There’s like three of them, including Shakirat Moshood, who are turning every shot into a missile. You can tell this isn’t just accidental—Coach Olowookere and his team clearly sat these girls down and said, “If you see the net, let it rip!” It’s genius. Honestly, for the longest time, I thought maybe our female teams just weren’t into long shots. I even started wondering if it was a gender thing (don’t come for me!). But now I see it was just bad coaching, because clearly, these girls know how to strike a ball!
Imagine if the Super Falcons had been blessed with this kind of shooting arsenal over the years. We’d have won half our games just by smashing it from 30 yards out, instead of trying to dribble through a brick wall of defenders. No way we were getting a goal today without that brilliant moment of magic from Moshood. That was a thing of beauty.
So, shoutout to Coach Olowookere for giving us this gem of a team. I can’t even remember the last time any of our female teams, junior or senior, achieved such a perfect run in a FIFA competition. Nine goals in three matches, only one conceded—now that’s how you announce yourself on the world stage! Let’s keep the momentum going, Flamingos. I’m here for it!
Even the SE have this problem of being shot shy. It’s almost as if they’re allergic to shooting.
They prefer to work the ball into the opponent’s danger area. It’s a very unhealthy way of playing.
And even when they shoot, the technique is all over the place.
It’s not for nothing that we have this saying in football:
IF YOU DON’T SHOOT, YOU DON’T SCORE.
Lots of chances and goals come from long distance shooting. The keeper may fumble the ball, and present us with a tap in opportunity. Or a deflection could occur, wrongfooting the keeper, and ending up with the ball in the net.
When an opening is there for a shot on goal, players should be encouraged to go for it. In the top leagues, if you give a player 3 seconds on the ball inside your vital area, chances are your goalie is going to have to make a save. This is what we want to see from our teams, male or female. Let’s put our shooting boots on, and let’s go for goals.
I think the shooting problem is not just a Nigerian thing, it is a dilemma for current football since the Tika taka brand of football exploded in the scene. Everyone and their mom keep passing to the goal. Most don’t really shoot from long range anymore. Where are the shot merchants like Batistuta,Crespo, Makaay,Van Bommel, Seedorf, Davids, R.Carlos, Rivaldo,Ronaldo, Essien, Appiah,Muntari, Okocha, Oliseh, Alonso, Lampard, Gerard, Scholes, Rooney, Drogba,Etoo and much more. Basically, dried up. We got but a few.
As aplenty are the positives of current football, the lack of long-range shooting is an aberration. Apart from this, the flare, dribbling and magic are practically facing a disappearing act, as such skills are in slow decline. We used to have Okocha, Ronadilho, Zidane, Reycoba, Henry, Pires, Denilson, Quaresma, Ortega, Ronaldo, Figo, Overmars, Savicevic,BergKamp, M.Laudrup, Stankovic, Steve Mcmanaman, you got the younglings İniesta,Messi,C.Ronaldo,even an aging Zola and Roberto Baggio etc. I could go on. Flare, dribble and magic; all playing at the same time. Not saying they are non-existent right now, but they are few and far between.
I sincerely hope this is coached back into football. Players should be given the leeway to express themselves as much as they play for the team and keep to formation. It is what made football so exciting.
the 1980s and 1990s. Shoot at sight with precision. They have incredible pace, they’re dominant and very skillful.
The goal scorer Shakirat Moshood is a future SuperFalcons superstar. The captain Taiwo Afolabi is a future SuperFalcons captain. The striker Chidi is a future SuperFalcons striking prospect.
The entire front four Effiong Animashaun Chidi and Moshood are all bonafide stars in the making. They remind of one U17 team with Okobi Ayinde Assisat and co if I’m not mistaken who went on to become the backbone of the SuperFalcons.
It won’t be easy against the USA, but these girls looks like going all the way to the trophy.
They’re reincarnating the Nigerian teams of the 1980s and 1990s. Shoot at sight with precision. They have incredible pace, they’re dominant and very skillful.
The goal scorer Shakirat Moshood is a future SuperFalcons superstar. The captain Taiwo Afolabi is a future SuperFalcons captain. The striker Chidi is a future SuperFalcons striking prospect.
The entire front four Effiong Animashaun Chidi and Moshood are all bonafide stars in the making. They remind of one U17 team with Okobi Ayinde Assisat and co if I’m not mistaken who went on to become the backbone of the SuperFalcons.
It won’t be easy against the USA, but these girls looks like going all the way to the trophy.
Well said, Mr. Hush.
Since the inception of tikitaka, shooting at goal has become regarded as “wasteful” by many teams. These teams now believe that it’s better to keep possession until an opening that can be exploited presents itself. The objective is to achieve rapid exchange of passes until a chance is created inside the box.
The problem with this philosophy is that it falls flat on its face when the opponent parks the bus. When time and space is not readily available because of the sheer number of players defending in and around the 18 yard box.
It’s notoriously difficult to pass your way behind a team playing 8 or 9 men behind the ball.
The overriding objective of tikitaka or any other playing philosophy should be to create opportunities. Tikitaka when properly done creates time and space for players to exploit. Instead of focusing on playing their way into the opponent’s box, the objective should be for any player that finds himself with time and space on the ball should go ahead and take the shot.
Parking the bus works well as a defense against tikitaka, but may not work so well when the opponent is taking a barrage of shots at you. Because there are so many men behind the ball, 2 things are likely to occur:
1) The shot gets deflected into goal.
2) the shot goes past the unsighted goalie, who’s line of sight to the ball is disrupted, again because he has all these men defending in front of him.
The top teams in the world score loads of goals from long distance. That is, shots taken from outside the 18 yard box.
We will definitely score more goals per game if we start shooting at goal more often. However, there is a technique to it. Wild, untamed shooting helps no one. But controlled shooting is a huge asset. This is where our coaches need to step in and help ensure the players have the shooting technique down to a T.
Practice makes perfect.