A Michelle Alozie’s stoppage time goal sealed a hard-fought 2-1 win for the Super Falcons against Banyana Banyana of South Africa in Tuesday’s semi-final.
With the game heading for extra-time Alozie sent in a long ball into the box which the South African keeper.
Rasheedat Ajibade had given the Super Falcons the lead from the penalty spot in the first half, but Linda Motlhalo equalised for Banyana Banyana also from the penalty spot in the second half.
This is the Super Falcons’ first appearance in the final since the 2018 tournament in Ghana.
South Africa bossed the possession 55-45 but the Super Falcons had seven shots on target to the opposition’s three.
Also Read: WAFCON 2024: It’s A Clash Of Titans –Oparanozie Speaks Ahead Nigeria Vs South Africa
In pass accuracy South Africa had 73 percent to Nigeria’s 66 percent.
The nine-time WAFCON champions will now take on either hosts Morocco or Black Queens of Ghana in the final on Saturday, July 26.
The Super Falcons had the first attempt on goal just two minutes into the game as a long ball saw South Africa keeper Andile Dlamini fumbled the ball but recovered to clear the danger.
In the 15th minute the Super Falcons went close through Esther Okoronkwo who brought down a long pass but saw her effort hit the South African keeper’s outstretched legs while Chiwendu Ihezuo saw her followup cleared off the line.
In the 18th minute a good passage of play by South Africa saw the final ball finding Jermaine Seoposenwe, but her shot fell into the arms of Chiamaka Nnadozie.
Two minutes later South Africa were forced to an early change as defender Tiisetso Makhubela was replaced due to injury.
With four minutes left in the first half Bambani Mbane found Magaia with a long ball and the latter beat her marker but her shot went wide.
The deadlock was eventually broken on 44 minutes as Ajibade converted a penalty after a South African stopped Folashade Ijamilusi’s cross with her left hand.
South Africa came out more purposeful in the second half but found it tough getting past the Super Falcons backline.
Their persistence eventually paid off as Motlhalo scored from the penalty spot on 59 minutes after Osinachi Ohale committed a foul inside the box.
The Super Falcons had a lucky escape in the 72nd minute as Ohale cleared a goal-bound strike ofr the line.
With six minutes left South Africa defender Gabriela Salgado suffered a serious leg injury and had to be stretched off.
In the 94th minute Alozie netted the winner as she sent in a long cross which the South African keeper misjudged as it bounced into the back of the net.
By James Agberebi
21 Comments
South Africa played 5 in the middle,with 4 static defenders and only one striker.Notable is their high press coupled with the numbers in the midfield making smooth play difficult for the super falcons which resulted to long balls to beat the South Africa’s press.
It was a difficult game for the super falcons.They weren’t given space to play the way they would have wanted to.
Anyways,congratulations super falcons!!
Good observation on the formation the SAns adopted and how the SF adapted to it to try beat the block.
Funny, the arrogant-as-usual SA coach denied that was their setup and insisted they played 3 upfront when it was clear they played a pseudo bus-parking system.
Congratulations to the Super Falcons.
They got the job done….the got over the line….that’s all the matters.
But I must commend the SAn coach. That woman is a true tactician. She practically tore madugu’s tactics to shreds at halftome, and after the break at some point, I was beginning to be scared for the Falcons….the stats in the 2ndhalf weren’t pleasant at all. Not until the 80th minute when that white girl got that freak injury that got both teams head in arms did I believe we could win.
This generation of SAns are generally a people with weak mentality. I knew they were never going to recover from that incident mentally and a little push afterwards would crack them
The falcons had huffed and puffed the whole 2nd half with no meaningful substitutions to help their cause…..and when a team starts sweating hard with zero outcomes, it simply points to the fact that their bench has been found out. I hope Madugu will go and rewatch the 2nd half and get serious with his job.
Once again, hats off to the super Falcons for grinding this out where tactics failed.
We never lose finals, and we won’t start now….!!!
For me the Nigerian Coach made the game difficult by playing Esther Okoronkwo as a striker. That girl is the engine of that team together with Ajibade in midfield. She plays better when she plays from midfield as an attacking midfielder.. Pls the coach should never try this experiment again. I think we got away with it by luck. Allow Esther to continue playing as an attacking midfielder as in other games. Playing her in top 9 completely neutralized her natural football instinct and the super Falcons missed her runs from deep
Look, listen.
There’s levels to this game called football and currently, Nigeria are many levels above all their domestic African opponents , and most especially the Southern Africans, South Africa included (being chief among them) – even if there was any competition to speak of, it’s not coming from the Southern region of Africa at all, if at all, it’s coming from places like the West – (Ghana, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Cameroon etc) and then next rung down from those are the North Africans, but South Africa and Southern Africa in general are not among them.
You might say – yes but didn’t they beat Nigeria in the last Wafcon (SA) to become champions etc etc etc – I’ll tell you unequivocally that Yes, of course, this is football and as we know anybody can beat anybody on a given day, but as far as South Africa goes or any Southern African country for that matter, it only ever happens when Nigeria are not on their own game for whatever reason – So in essence, we 9ja are the masters of our own destiny and we win or lose based only on our own form and performance –
Having said all that – please don’t get it twisted though as I am only referring here to the Super Falcons of Nigeria in this case.
At the end of the day, as they say in 9ja popular lingo – Khaki no be leather!
Next up Marok if they can get past those jealous, nasty Ghanaians lol
@ Greenturf, you are right and couple with the referee who was awarding the SA 50/50 challenged balls…so bias.
Well done girls
When the Nigerian coach said he was banking on Ajibade for victory over south Africa, I knew he was technically limited, a deficiency which is very common amongst Nigerian coaches. Football is a team work. Individual play don’t win matches anymore. Today, the South African coach laid bare the Nigerian coache’s technical deficiency. Thank goodness we managed to win.
Madugu beat the South African coach. Whatever tactics it is he won…
Congratulations girls.
I’m waiting to hear the excuse that South Africa coach going to cook up.
By the Grace of God the cup is coming home to Nigeria.
Oh, you haven’t watched the post-match conference? She was as cocky in defeat as she was before the match.
She kept saying they played 120 minutes in the QF and had less time to rest. That at some point, she knew they were going to win. That they created better chances. That Alozie’s goal was a freakish goal. That they showed why they were champions. That they didn’t deserve to lose. It was incredible!
At a point, I thought she was talking about a different match. Cos, while they had sparks of brilliance, we were by far the better side and should have buried the game in the first 20 minutes. 3 clear missed goals.
In fact, in my view, their usually composed goalkeeper got jittery by the number of balls she had to deal with, which made her make that mistake.
@Kel, na so Desiree be o — always talking from both sides of her mouth like she’s auditioning for a Nollywood villain role. Before and after those Olympic qualifiers we won, her comments were full of shade and zero self-awareness. Honestly, for someone who’s been in the game this long, her emotional intelligence is shockingly low.
Her arrogance? Loud. And when pressure hits? That’s when her “soft girl era” kicks in — not in a cute way o, but in a “why is she falling apart on camera?” kind of way. She acts like she’s the only woman in football who has feelings.
That’s why today’s win sweet me well well. We didn’t just beat South Africa — we gave them a hard reset, especially in the first half. The Super Falcons are in ascendancy now. This is our time. But let’s be real — if not for Madugu’s tactical sleepwalk, we could have wrapped up that game before the penalty drama sef.
And their keeper? Let’s not lie, she saved them from disgrace. If not for her, that scoreboard would’ve read like a crime scene.
Anyway, the crown is calling. We’re taking it back. And this time, no apologies.
I will take the win but not the performance, this was the complete opposite of what we saw against Zambia whom to me are far better than this SA bayanabayana ladies. But I will take the win and final.
Congrats to the Super Falcons, coach Madugu and his crew, and the MOTM Rasheedat Ajibade, aka Captain Fantastic.
A word of caution though.
The foul committed by Ohale that led to the SA spot kick, this is something that worries me.
If we meet Morocco in the final, you know how these Northern Africans play (no offense intended). They will charge in the direction of your box and dive at the slightest touch, looking for freekicks and penalties. The only other team on the planet that cheats and dives better than the North Africans is Argentina.
Our players need to be very cautious in this regard. Instead of fouling in and around the box, try to close down the ball as much as possible, taking time and space away from the opponent.
Also, we are doing much better in terms of goal attempts. They are more frequent and usually on target. Still, we missed a few begging chances today! The one that is living rent free in my head is the Okoronkwo miss. She was face to face with the goalie, and should have bulged the old onion bag. Alternatively, Ihezuo was completely unmarked to her left. A little pass in her direction, and ihezuo would have had a wide open, yawning net to tap in. A glorious chance wasted. Whoever we meet in the final, we’ve got to create and convert our chances.
The cup is almost here. One more river to cross!
N.B.: At the time of this post, Ghana is leading Morocco by a goal to nil. Still early days yet. Anything can still happen. WE AWAIT THE WINNER IN THE FINAL.
Congratulations to our super falcons
They were tired towards the end of the match
And surprisingly our iron lady was very shaky today
That lady sakirat isah shouldn’t be getting ready to take over from our most reliable and confidence Osi the iron lady
Let’s talk, abeg.
Yes, Nigeria beat South Africa 2–1 today in the WAFCON semi-final. And yes, I shouted. I danced. I nearly spilled my garri. But after the adrenaline settled and I caught my breath, one thing was painfully clear: we won because our players were determined to win and because football gods smiled on us — not because of some tactical wizardry from Coach Madugu. In fact, if we’re being honest, Madugu needs to step up while facing tactically sound teams.
Now, I love the Super Falcons with all my heart. Those girls have heart, grit, and lungs made of steel. You could see the fire in their eyes, chasing every ball like their rent was due at full-time. I give them full credit. But Madugu? E remain small make Desiree Ellis carry am put inside her tactical handbag after the break. Many thanks to that horrendous injury which kinda affected the South African girls.
Ellis and her technical team clearly did their homework. They came in like surgeons in the second half— calm, precise, and very intentional. Nigeria? We were operating on “let’s see how it goes.” And somehow, it went.
I learnt earlier this week that Ellis has a full technical army behind her: analysts, strategists, people who probably have spreadsheets for how many strands of hair Okoronkwo braids before each match. Madugu? I’m convinced Baba just picked his tactics based on what he felt should be done. I simply don’t understand why a team that was excellent in the first half struggled to keep the ball in the second period when the South Africans changed their tactics.
If the NFF is determined to keep Madugu (and they probably are), then they must give him a competent technical team. Not people who just shout “press! press!” from the sidelines. I’m talking about real football minds who can break down opponents and come up with a strategy that doesn’t look like it was copied from FIFA PlayStation settings. And that relationship between him and this technical team should be legally binding — contract, clause, signature, blood oath if necessary.
Look, I’m not saying Madugu is useless. He’s shown potential. He”s a decent coach. But this is the Super Falcons, not a local Sunday league side. We’re trying to win on the continent and make noise globally. That won’t happen if we keep walking into tactical battles with a catapult while others bring drones.
And while we’re on the subject of today’s game, I must pause to send love and prayers to Solgado, the South African player who suffered that awful injury in the second half. That moment was heartbreaking — you could see the shock on the faces of both teams. But I was proud of how the Super Falcons handled it. They showed empathy, concern, and true sportsmanship. That’s bigger than any scoreline. That’s what sport should be.
So yes, we’re in the final. Yes, we beat a tough South African side. But let’s not pretend we’ve arrived. This win was a blessing — not a blueprint. If we don’t want to be embarrassed on the world stage but escalate our success in Africa to the global stage, we better fix what’s broken, and fast.
God bless Nigeria. God bless Solgado. And somebody please, give Madugu a tactical manual before the final o. Morocco might be tougher.
The way you extolled this Desire Elis, one would think her team didn’t play rubbish against lowly Tanzania and almost got bungled out by Senegal bar her keeper’s heroics. I didn’t see any tactical jack that she did to be honest. Before the penalty call of Ohale, the game was flat with Nigeria looking more likely to do any harm to be done. It is just normal that a losing team in a knockout game will usually come out to play to get an equalizer, and that was what just happened. Desire Elis is an okay coach but she over rates herself, just like you’ve overrated her and disrespected Magudu despite being the victorious coach. Kindly rewatch the game with less tension.
Please let’s endeavor to be fair to our own tactical minds when they’ve done well. Magudu doesn’t need to brandish tactical rhetorics during interviews or match conferences to show that he is a smart tactician.
Simply put (from your last paragraph), the final will only be won by our girls grit and determination, not Madugus.
We are going to play a FIFA women’s world cup winning coach with largely HOME BASED SQUAD.
Kind of like a lion leading an army of sheep.
Plumptre had spoken prior to this Wafcon she can’t wait to play Morocco.
She and Falcons have got that wish. If we win and I think we shall since we haven’t lost a final in Wafcon, the players will determine so.
Moroccan coach substituted a player in the first half for not buckling up.
Echegini and Ihezuo started screaming for substitutions as early as the 60th minute but Madugu was clueless until they were forced off via injuries.
Oga couldn’t decide what SA changed in the second half.
Too limited.
Ha! Ha! They just changed to shouting “press, “press”. It was “follow” “follow” before now. So nauseating and embarrassing.
I pray our football coaches will not get left behind as football is evolving rapidly.
God bless Solgado. Wishing her a quick and full recovery. I guess it should be a lesson that what goes around comes around. Her intentional foul sent Echiegini out.
Congrats to Super Falcons! I think this game showed that Magudu doesn’t trust his reserve forwards. He’ll rather play Ihezuo and Okoronkwo even if they’re tired thank bring in Oshoala and rest. After Zambia’s game analysts were saying Ijamulasi this and that…that she lacks tactical discipline. I was wondering whether it was the same Zambia’s game that I watched. Thank God the coach stuck with her and she didn’t disappoint. One thing the coach should have done was rotate the forwards, Ihezuo or Ijamulasi at some point should have swapped with Esther. In my opinion, it would have helped the attack.
Many thanks to South Africa and Nigeria for serving up a feisty yet fabulous football fiesta in yesterday’s Wafcon semi-final in a manner that enhanced the credibility of women’s football on the continent.
A massive well done goes to Coach Junstine Madugu for masterminding a hard-fought victory against one of the most tactically astute tacticians he would ever encounter in the women’s game in Coach Desiree Ellis.
It was a game of 2 halves, first half belonging to Madugu, winning it 1:0, and Ellis winning the second half, which rightly ended 1:1.
Madugu’s girls have perfected their mastery of the long ball strategy. This strategy was instrumental in the obliteration of Zambia in the quarter-final and it also came good here.
Time and again in the first half, laser-guided long balls were being launched from every nook and cranny of the pitch, like stray bullets from the rifle of a mass shooter. Alozie (who had the game of her life in Super Falcons colours), Plumptre, Ajibade, Ayinde, Okoronkwo, and Demehin all had a crack of this long ball whip in the first half.
Easily, 4 goals could have been manufactured from these long balls in the first half alone, but for the heroics of South Africa’s goalkeeper and backline and some shots that didn’t pack enough punch from Nigerian strikers.
This strategy, and the high pressing and physical approach from Madugu’s instructions and direction, made it challenging for South Africa to settle into a rhythm long enough to bring the menace of their intricate passing routine to bear.
All that would change in the second half when Ellis flipped the script be flooding the midfield zone with bodies in the second half and using a blend of passes on grass and long balls to pay the Super Falcons back in their own coin.
At that point, it became really tensed, exhausting and quite worrisome to watch from a Nigerian perspective as South Africa were rightly gaining a foothold in the match, ruffling Falcons’ feather, and finding cracks behind enemy lines to exploit.
South Africa had latched on the a second wind, a wind slowly Nigeria’s chances off course.
The equaliser didn’t come as a surprise to me and I feld it was well deserved. I said to myself: “well done South Africa; game on!”
Madugu was stunned! Ellis was showing him how it is done, but the Nigerian was undeterred. Rather than make attacking substitutions (as he had done in the past), he shored up Nigeria’s midfield with hard-tackling, no-nonsense, ball-winning midfielders who will use all their experience to wrestle back command of the midfield, long enough for the resumption of long balls being launched to wreak havoc.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, was exactly what happened.
In the dying embers, with the midfield choked, Alozie launched an audacious long ball which evaded all the foot soldiers to seal the deal!
Madugu prevailed on the night, but only just! Ellis has stretched him to his limits, to a placed where he had never being before, being the first coach to record a goal against him thus far.
My congratulations to the Super Falcons.
As stated, before the semis, except ‘football’ happens, I expect us to win the cup, we are simply above everyone else.
And has induced by most on here, Madugu is technically limited. I think we should prioritise getting a better coach notwithstanding winning the cup. The Super falcons’ players are far bigger than the coach. and when we win, it will be inspite of the coach not mainly because of his tactics.
Once again, congratulations to the Falcons.
Go get number 10