Esther Onyenezide is calling on divine intervention ahead of today’s (Sunday) quarter-final clash between Falconets of Nigeria and Netherlands at the 2022 U-20 women’s World Cup in Costa Rica.
The Falconets reached the last eight after topping Group C with nine points following wins against France, South Korea and Canada.
Onyenezide is the leading scorer for the Christopher Danjuma side after netting three goals.
She has also been awarded Player of the Match in the Falconets’ games against South Korea and Canada.
And ahead of today’s fixture, Onyenezide wrote on her Twitter handle:”MATCHDAY!! Nigeria 🇳🇬 🆚 Netherlands 🇳🇱
“We go again! God, we can’t do this alone, give us this day!🙏🙏💪“
Also Read: Rooney Urges Man United Boss To Drop Ronaldo For Liverpool Clash
Meanwhile, the Netherlands qualified as runners-up in Group D behind champions Japan.
After losing their opening game to Japan they bounced back with victories against USA and Ghana.
50 Comments
Lord reward these teens for their effort knowing the hopelessness in our country.Give Nigerians another moment to smile and forget tribe and political party affiliation in Jesus name. Amen!!!
USA were not good in this tournament and Ghana as we know can lose to any team with their big bums.
No “Devine intervention” will make the Falconets win the match today, we have to face the fact. All that is needed to win the match today is the same ingredients they used in the previous matches, hard work, staying focused, being determined, hundred percent concentration, and being fully dedicated not depending on “Devine intervention” to defeat the Netherlands. God has nothing to do with this, they have to bring their A game today because God does not take sides, he loves every country equally.
So you think hard work alone ALWAYS produces results? I laugh in Spanish. Anyways, if you know you know
LMFAO!!
Some of the PEOPLE that DISLIKE @DETRUTH COMMENT came back during and after the MATCH to LIKE
LMFAO…
WE GENERAL ROAH SOLDIERS have this AGGRESSIVE way of making OPINIONS that can SCARE some PEOPLE atimes…
LMFAO!!
@ detruth, I can’t help but laugh. Sometimes you need element of luck too in football, may be that where divine intervention comes into play.
In all falconet should play with same determination they have been playing and improve on that final third. They seems to be cluless whenever they move balls to the edge of their opponents.
@Debo and Yinkus,God doesn’t love Nigeria more than he loves Holland, Togo,Ghana, Canada or USA, all are love equally by him so it’s funny when I hear our people say God of soccer is our side or we need Devine intervention. You can laugh in Chinese and Portuguese as well.
Which channel on GOTV can I watch the match?
How wasnt dat a penalty for 9ja? The dutch defender clearly brought flourish sabastine down in the box. Damn hope this referee no go rob us of dis game ooo.
That was a clear foul on Sabastine. Even a handball was ignored by the referee giving a corner instead! Poor clearance on both occasions is the reason why we are trailing
Netherlands just scored
Her foot was definitely clipped…. Which kain referee be this now.
Check for a possible red card but no check for a possible penalty……Why are Africans hated?
My tots exactly. What a crap officiating so far. The coach should instruct our captain to be playing the goal kicks rather than the goalkeeper since her kicks have not been up to standard
Offside on the halfway line na wa ohhh…….They need to be really careful. The plot is obvious
Netherland scores again to make it 2:0.
Yeah that defensive mishap gonna make it hard to come back in this game..
If we can score 1 b4 the half then there is a good chance we can still come back but yeah the defense has been really shaky.
Honestly this referee is bad. Although we have conceded due to our own fault but the refereeing has been atrocious. Its as if she is supporting the dutch team. We are creating opportunities but just haven’t taken our chances. We could easily be up but that the nature of the game, u get punished wen u make silly mistakes and don’t take ur chances when they present themselves. Lets see what the 2nd half will bring. Go falconets
we have been lucky in our previous matches because we didn’t commit defensive blunders. so unfortunate that our defensive blunders will cost us this match. we have not been fantastic scoring goals otherwise with the manner we take possession of the game we should be scoring a lot of goals. the coach should instruct the ladies to shoot more often rather trying to dribble
Just like in the 2019 u17 WC where Manu Garba was tactically outwitted by a well-schooled Netherlands bench. We are being tactically schooled here again this evening.
Like I previously said, the knockout stages is always where these coaches always get tested, where all our swashbuckling group stage performances always gives way to listless exits.
And by the way, the officiating has been perfect. We should learn to stop putting blames of our exits on referees. Sabastine clearly, clearly tumbled in that coming together, a tumble that didnt even need a VAR to see. While the red card check was to check if the CB that brought the dutch girl down was/wasnt the last man, as the dutch girl would have been through on goal if she wasnt stopped unorthodoxly.
And which footballing rules say a player cannot be offside just past the halfway line….??
Decision making in the final 3rd is truly proving to be our undoing. Sabastine chose to shoot from an acute angle when there were 2 teammates unmarked in the center of the box. Abiodun chose to shoot from long range when Sabastine and Okuchukwu were through and free to her left.
This is where Onyenezide’s plea for divine intervention comes in handy. Becuase that’s the only way we can earn anything close to a comeback in this game. If at all anyteam will score again in this game, I’l be putting my money on the oranje dames to be the ones to find the back of the net.
Dr. Drey, 3 gbosas for you for this honest and forthright comment. I don’t need to add anything else because you have said it all.
Dont mind them my brother.
AFCON, referee and CAF was against them. WAFCON, referee and Motsepe was against them. Same thing at WAFU level. Now it is FIFA and referee that is against them…..as if we are Brazil or France, that the whole world is yearning to defeat.
Teams like Spain or Netherlands who play football more with their brains than with their muscles do not need any damn referees or FIFA to defeat us at any level of football.
It’s whatever we are outplaying them and not taking advantage of the possession and our scoring chances. They had 3 shots on target and scored 2 while we hade 6 ……2 defensive errors doesn’t mean they are better than us tactically. Without those errors it would have been even
When you assess a team, you have to consider all the factors that make a team better than another. You don’t assess/evaluate a team in isolation of critical factors such as needless errors, poor defending, and poor judgement. You have to consider all these factors. So, bearing this in mind, Holland is better than Nigeria.
I’ll have to agree with y’all…. Obviously the coach didn’t tell them to stop playing those nonsense shots
Congratulations for outplaying them. Let your “outplaying” see you through to the semi-finals then….LMAOooo
You will tell us if it is with their hands the Netherlands girls use in carrying the ball to your box before your defenders committed errors. The fact that they are not making any defensive mistakes is still part of the tactical upperhand they are having….they are clearing balls out of touch…not onto the feet of their opponents. Those picking up the loose clearances are not there by chance, they are their from a carefully crafted and excellently executed match plan
You are clearly being tactically outwitted but claiming better possession…..LMAOooo. Same way Manu’s team too was dominating possession but the dutch doing most of the damage in 2019. They are intentionally ceding possession to you because they know you are physically stronger and more arrogant, drawing you out of your half and isolating your full backs, while doing the scoring….LMAOoo…its part of being tactically outwitted my brother.
Continue to enjoy your possession and pray we dont experience another 3 on 3 defensive situation again.
lmaooooo
The first goal is forgivable but after doing similar stuff that led to the first goal how can you try to trap a cross coming in instead of clearing it out even if it has to be a corner. This is a stage where mistakes aren’t forgiven, and they should realize the referee is the 12th woman…. Honestly coming back from 2 goals down at this stage of the tournament is like pulling a rabbit out of a hat but let’s hope.
This is a case of mental strength vs physical strength and we know what the result will be. Mental strength will always prevail over physical strength. Unless Nigeria plays more with their brains, they will not score in this match. Everything is not always by share physical energy. You have to use your mental energy sometimes.
For those calling for penalty against Holland in this match, there is none and there is no conspiracy/plot against Nigeria. In this match we have not proved to be better than Holland. Holland is using every width of the pitch and allowing the ball to do the running. Nigeria on the other hand wants to dribble everybody and playing aimless balls into the 18 yard box of an opponent that is way taller than then. You play to your strength and not to the strength of your opponent. In all, Holland is technically better than Nigeria.
You are right about that…. The girls sometimes play some senseless shots instead of passing
HONESTLY, Africa must be robbed. Why? Bad governance. It goes along way. The girls are playing but the most be rigged out with VAR. Unless, God comes in now with undeserving mercy. Let’s see how it goes. We don’t lose on Monday’s.
I think for me, our number one objective was already met: Namely,the competition should throw up a new generation of players to replace some of our aging and aged falcons.Any other thing is ‘jara’.Step up Demehin, Ester,Flourish, Imuran,idoko, Bukola.These players should make the team to the world cup.A player or two should also be fast tracked to the falcons from the U17 girls to the falcons and the falcons will fly again.
The other thing for me is the quality of our local coaches.Sincerely, it is getting embarrassing.Danjuma was just shouting/barking as if he was playing kaduna United vs Gombe United in the local league. Who noticed the sophisticated gadgets and pads with the Dutch assistant coaches and match reader for on the spot analysis and correction? Our coaches have pieces of paper!.NFF arrange refresher courses for our local coaches to upskill.
The match itself can go on for the next 3 hours and we will not score.The Dutch game plan was simple.Stay compact and disciplined at the back with numbers behind the ball and catch them on the counter.
HONESTLY, Africa must be robbed. Why? Bad governance. It goes along way. The girls are playing but the most be rigged out with VAR. Unless, God comes in now with undeserving mercy. Let’s see how it goes. We don’t lose on Monday’s.
Yeah with these unnecessary shots we don’t deserve to go through…. Nonsense
We can only blame ourselves for this…Decisions in the final third killed us. We have some future stars though. Goodluck to them in future.
So what will the Germans and USA teams that did not even go past the 1st round do? With the level of preparation of the Falconers getting past the 1 st round was a success.
Weldone to the girls. But unfortunately this is where the journey ends for them. This is indeed an anticlimax, another proof that they were tactically outfoxed by a less individually talented, yet more technically and tactically hardworking Dutch team.
Going forward, the captain Tosin Demehin, midfield gem Esther Onyenezide and dashing wingforward Flourish Sabastine should be promoted to the Super Falcons and go start understudying the likes of Onome, Rita and Francisca respectively. Hopefully in the nearest future, they will be ready for full senior international football.
The rest of the team should be kept together and formed into the bulk of the team that will play at the next All Africa Game female football event to be held in Ghana next year (2023).
It was only a matter of time before this lack of ideas in the final third would catch up with this team, especially in the knockout stages where matches are going to be played and won from the bench. For that I squarely blame Chris Danjuma. We wouldnt always continue to be 10 times lucky like we were at the earlier stages of the tournament.
Danjuma would take the blame for this one. Why he started the no 7 I have no Idea. You had a team that did well against France and suddenly Olise and Joy jerry were relegated to the bench and most importantly the issue of decisions in the final third plagued them in the group matches and it was never addressed. The defense was really not tested until this game. Just like you stated the Dutch relied on their tactics and even if we didn’t concede those 2 goals the game might have dragged into penalty cuz just couldn’t utilize the chances we had.
I agree with you the no7 was really poor. Very weak crosses and a poor touch.. I wonder why she wasn’t able to nod the ball into an empty net.. she cost us this game..
Even the commentator said that was strange…. Wasted time and then cancelled the penalty but if we had taken our chances we won’t be in this position
Holland was better tactically. Our girls were just running around with no purpose..
Congratulation to the girls, Esther and sabastine should move to the senior team..
Wish them well for the future
The ref was gesturing in request for the ball for a drop ball, not affirming the penalty call, that’s what the confused commentator didnt figure out on time. She cancelled the penalty…and rightly so. Awarding it was an error in the first place. How do you award a penalty with the girl’s hand practically glued to her body…?
Hard luck Nigerians. Better luck next time.
And here is a clarion call to our local coaches and the NFF to do something about upscaling their acumen as coaches. We cant continue to get tactically disgraced by coaching upstarts (no disrespect to our opponents’ coaches) all the time. First it was a certain Tunisian asst coach whose name nobody can recall. Next it was Otto Addo in his first games as a senior head coach in his coaching career, and then this by a recently retired Dutch female national team player. There was harldy any anxious moments created for us by our girls, talk more of for the opponents in the entire 2nd half of this game.
Danjuma should know better he has been coaching women since 2002….That Dutch coach was probably playing under 20 then too lmaoo.
Football is a game of fine margins in this day and age. We had a good defense but our fullbacks have been suspect from day one. They’re good offensively, but against tactically astute teams like the Netherlands they got found out. They lack calmness in the final third despite creating numerous chances. It will only be a matter of time for them to explode and it shows today. Huffing and puffing the ball every time will only lead to disaster. Either way there are some future talents in the set up. Onyenezide, Sabastine and Demehin should be part of the SuperFalcons and the left back Imuran. They’re a young group with a very bright future. Some of them could still be eligible for the next U20 tournament.
Africa still have a long way to go.
Our under 20 women team has so many abundant talented players but they were not properly managed.
Team management is very poor. I watched our team before today’s match and shaking my head for our ladies boasting around that they will beat Netherlands and in the end nko? They collect wotowoto lol.
We had our chances in the early of the game but they wasted their chances.
Over confidence killed their performance in the end.
Our players haven’t learned from France 98 against Denmark and the same scenerio occurred in today’s match.
Oh well, thanks for your hard work Falconets. At least our own tried their best. God bless Nigeria!!!
Hmnnnnnn, what else can I say. I think this is the last time I will keep wake to support any Nigerian team again. For me, it has been from one disappointment to another! From AFCON shambolic showing to WAFCON disaster and now to this terribly overhyped U-20 women (though they did not get good preparation for this tourney). For those singling out names to be promoted to the senior national team, I ask on what basis? Looking at this game, I would prefer this Abiodun girl to Onyenezide for promotion; and our almighty Demehin clearly was the cause of the second goal; is it Sabastine that was running and falling aimlessly taking very weak shots that should be promoted. I have indeed lost interest in Nigerian Football as what it brings are heartache and hypertension
It will be unfair to say the girls weren’t more talented than the Dutch team. In all honesty if we put sentiments and emotions apart, the Dutch team was just better tactically and avoided any kind of mistakes and out of the small attempts they made at goal they scored 2 and it was obvious that the 2 errors, lack of discipline, lack of decision making in the goal area, and aimless/weak shots cost us this game. Individually the Dutch could not match us…. Just like someone pointed out…You have to use brains in football and not just speed and strength….
You’re right I think that Abiodun girl is a good midfielder to be. Same with Olise. Even the Amoo girl too na baller to behold. They just lack cohesiveness in the final third. That’s why talent is always going to be overrated without the attitude of being clinical when it mattered most. It’s a tough ask for this girls without proper preparations to expect them to win this tournament. That’s why it’s called developmental tournaments.
You use 1 out of 4 games to judge overall individual performances in an entire tournament. Wow, that’s awesome. Weldone ehn.