Super Falcons head coach Randy Waldrum says his team must avoid mistakes in their final game in the Summer Series against world champions United States Of America on Thursday.
The nine-time African champions have struggled to shut out opponents in their opening two games in the competition.
The West Africans conceded a sloppy goal in the 1-0 defeat to the Reggae Girls of Jamaica last Thursday and the defence was further exposed in the 3-3 draw against Portugal on Monday.
Read Also: ‘Great Way To Fight Back’- Waldrum Talks Up Super Falcons Impressive Display Vs Portugal
Chidinma Okeke scored an own goal, while Tochukwu Oluehi produced a number a superb saves to keep the Super Falcons in the game.
Waldrum warned that the players have to shape or will pay dearly against the hosts.
“We have to clean things defensively because if we don’t, we will be in some real trouble with the US,” the American said after the game.
“We have to correct our lapses because the US team can expose you in so many different ways.”
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Waldrum warned that the players have to shape or will pay dearly against the hosts.
“We have to clean things defensively because if we don’t, we will be in some real trouble with the US,” the American said after the game.
“We have to correct our lapses because the US team can expose you in so many different ways.”
We can see the difference. The coach knows the problem of the Super Falcons and he’s doing is very best to fix the problems.
We are yet to receive excuses from the tactician and instead, he stays positive.
I will urge our ladies to go all out to play the match with full determination and
concentration against the host on Thursday.
The ladies have nothing to lose, it’s just a friendly match and they should try to make Nigeria/Africa proud.
I am very happy with what I’m seeing. Well done coach Waldrum. God bless Nigeria!!!
It is good to see that the Super Falcons are not playing Kerewa Kerewa Kerewa football. The ladies will beat America. Lolzzzz
A novice may think they really love and care for Coach Waldrum, but we all know the brain behind…..
1) Bcos we love oga Rohr, they’ve decided to pitch their tent with Waldron….
2) That childish attitude is still in them…. A kind of retaliation so that we will also feel the pains….. They choose to shower “hypocritical” praise on that innocent young man….
3) when this innocent poor man start performing below their expectations, that is when they’ll come here to console and comfort themselves but turn behind and weep…..
We are watching closely bcos we all know that the Waldrum they’re singing today will one day turn sour in their mouth….
We know them…. They can’t disappoint us….
We have noted you all…..
Watch live
Nigeria vs USA
https://www.thenff.com/nff-live-tv/
…and the game is underway.
5 mins gone and USA with the early pressure…quite expectedly.
Meghan Rapione trying to force things down our ;eft early on.
15 mins on the clock,
Nig 0-0 USA
the falcons have been smart enough to contain the Americans with an all-out-defensive style of play.
19 min
Great Save by Oluehi.
A rasping shot from outside the box is held with magnetic precision by the goalkeeper.
22 mins
A huge mistake at the back by Ebi almost results in a goal for the USA.
A big let off. We breathe…!!!
25 mins
Heroic goalkeeping once again from Tochukwu Oluehi.
A goal bound header from Rapinoe is smothered right at the foot of kirlly lloyd to prevent a tap in.
She gets herself injured in the process and a subst gk is already warming up on the sidelines
30 mins
Thankfully after some medical attention, Oluehi is fine and good to go.
33 min
Goal……But No.
Llyods shot defelcts of a Nigerian defender and finds it way into the net. Asst Ref wrongfully rules it offside thinking it defelcted off Rapinoe.
We breathe once again
38 mins
Wideeeee…..!!
A rare chance sees toni payne flash a shot wide after being teed up by Assisat Oshoala.
46 min
Gooallll.
First time finish from Christine Press from the edge of the box puts the USA ahead.
Loose clearance by Ebi is picked up by Lloyd, chested through to press and a precise left-foot curler to Oluehi’s right breaks the Nigerian resistance
The game is on supersport 203 if you are in Nigeria
Can Nigeria ever win the Female world cup? If we have to play against teams like USA, France, Germany, we have a huge mountain to climb.
We currently have Zero structures on ground to win neither the female world cup nor the male world cup. Teams that have done so didnt just stumble on it. It was a result of years of planning and organization. We need a foundation that will churn out technically and tactically talented truly world class players who can stand their own anywhere, anytime, against any opposition. The ones we call ‘stars’ now suddenly forget how to play football when we are playing strong teams.
Half time at in Houston
Nig 0-1 USA
Its been one-way traffic for the Americans all through this game so far. Nigeria defending deeply with as much as 8 defenders in the box everytime USA attacks.
Attacks from Nigeria have been few and far between and hardly cause any troubles for the Americans
Key Stats;
Nig 0-1 USA
Possession:69%-31%
Shots: 5-6
On target:1-3
And the 2nd half is underway.
Still tilted in heavily in favour of USA, mirroring the 1st half.
Akthough the girls are trying but they are no match for the Americans when it comes to women’s soccer, not many teams in the world are either. Having said that, I think the team needs to be younger especially in the midfield which is often the engine room of the team. I know there are several American players that are in the mid to late 30s but checking dia fitness as against our old ladies is clear as day. Our #10 is past her playing days, she should please give way, same goes for the goalie and the central defender #5. I know people won’t agree with this but this team can really get better with more youth. Experience is overrated especially in the African context, these ladies are too heavy and old imho. See how our #10 landed on the American i couldn’t help but laff, that kind of load could kill someone. I understand tge timing for tge Ghana match is close and changing the team now will be counterproductive but in all sincerity some of tge players should retire, many of them have been to 3 or more WCs for crying out loud, they should give the young ones who are more mobile the chances. See the frame of ajibade, oshoala, Payne, alozie those are football body. You can’t cheat nature, the older u are the slower u get physically and mentally. Not in anyway taking dia contributions to the women’s game in 9ja for granted but the team needs to be younger in my view. Just my take, we can agree to disagree
53 min
USA sub – Krilly Llyod off for Alex Morgan
58min
Nig sub – Esther Ogbonna on for Amarachi Okoronkwo
Meanwhile Oluehi goes down again and seems to be requesting to be subbed off
US subs- Sonnet on for Mewis, Maccario on for Lewis
63 min
Francisca Ordega off for Ify Onumonu.
Ordega has been completely off the pace in this tournament. No meaningful contribution of note in the 3 games played so far.
70 mins.
Still as we were.
The game seems to have tapered down a little in tempo with the flurry of substitutions.
75 min
Nig sub – Charity Adule on for Glory Ogbonna
85 min
GREAT SAVEEEEE….!!!!
The USA manages to carve out an opening in the Nigerian defence after a largely dour 2ndhalf and once again, Oluehi denies every law of human kinetics to pull off an outstanding save.
USA subs – Davidson on for; Williams on for Rapinoe
Nig sub – Gift Monday on for Chikwelu
94th min
Goooalll….!
Right at the death…..with virtually the last kick of the game, USA extends their lead
Nig 0-2 USA
Full time.
And that’s it folks.
Good game of football for every neutral. Clearly the USA was the better team and the Nigerian crew knew just that coming into this game, which informed their mind set to just set out for damage control all through the game.
Bye and large its been a wonder week for the super falcons, at least getting together to play together before the crucial game against Ghana.
The biggest take away for me was the fact that we could blood a few foreign-borns into the team and they did show they’ve got something to offer, from Payne Jnr, Zogg and Alozie in defence to Payne snr and Ariyo in attack. Hopefully this move will help get the interest of more of these kids to play for us in due course. That is probably the one way we can make a headway at the global stage. Because sincerely, the development of women’s football on the domestic scene has clearly stalled. The fact that we now struggle to beat the likes of CIV, Cameroon, Ghana, SA shows how much we have been left behind.
Good night/morning folks.
Well done @DrDrey, for the commentary.
Honestly you really should consider having your own online Sports site. It is in you and should be given full attention.
But remember when you do, you will loose the capacity to retaliate fire to critiques.
Well done bro.
Hahahaha…thanks bro. I will put your suggestions into consideration…Lol. And for the retaliation aspect we’ll leave that to technology to sort e-hooligans out automatically….LMAO
But seriously, the quality of journalism we are being served these days leave much to be desired. Nigeria playing the world champions, no previews, no live commentaries, no editorial analysis/reviews. We have as many as 6 foreign-born newcomers in the team not a single exclusive interview with any of them, nor with any of the older ones.
Its a shame.
Nice highlights, Dr. Drey. For those of us that missed the game, we appreciate.
2 nil is a very respectable scoreline against the Americans. Jamaica that beat us 1 nil received a 4 nil smash up from US. So our girls must have put up a tremendous defensive display. And as Dr. Drey mentioned, their 2nd goal came in the dying minutes, which makes it even more impressive to me. With a bit of good fortune, we could have held them to a draw.
Can this Super Falcons team ever aspire to beating Women’s football giants like the US, Japan, Brazil, France, Germany? Well, based on what we’ve seen so far, we are still behind, but we are taking baby steps forward in the right direction. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a step. We just have to keep moving forward.
I think the score is a very respectful one given the circumstances of the game.Both goals were scored towards the tail end of both halves.The first was from a poor header by Ebi straight to an opponent, similar to the Ekong mistake against cameroun that resulted to the goal by Nguissa.The second came as the falcon abandoned their rigid 3-5-1 formation and pour forward in search of an equalizer deep into stoppage time.This create a gap behind.The American sent a long ball from deep to the left side , with the goalkeeper badly exposed, she was rounded up by William who tapped into an empty net.
But bar the score line, there are a lot of positives to take from the game.
Almost half of the team are having either their second or third caps and they are in all honesty, looking very very young.Compared with the starting line up of America, whose majority of players have 100+ caps.So you can see the future of the super falcons.
The goal keeper had an excellent game and is not at fault for any of the goals.The right back too had an excellent game with majority of the youngsters acquainting themselves very well.
Ebi brought the much needed stability and experience in the center of defence, but at 38 years, we should be thinking of a replacement.
Asisat was the lone striker upfront in a 351 formation and she has to drop deep into mid field to help.
We need more steel in midfield and attack and in all honesty, I think it is high time that the NFF forgive and invite the former captain to add more steel and firepower to the team.
Those foreign born players will struggle with the rugged play of African teams. A test game with Cameroun is advised just to give them a run in against African teams before they face Ghana.
If YOBO is not worthy enough to handle the home eagles then this country is a jerk by appointing someone who is not capable of handling our home eagles as the super eagles assistant coach. they know fully well that YOBO is not qualify yet they appoint him as assistant coach, which means he is just there to add numbers without adding anything technically nor tactically yet we blame the coach working without a good assistant. Enough of this if he can’t handle the home eagles then he should leave he is just a pundit. NFF IS REALLY BIZZARE THEY SHOULD STOP ALL THESE RUBBISH.
Hehehehe….you cant give what you dont have. NFF knew what they were doing when they hired someone who isnt even a coach as the no 2 man in the National team, then coming to defend it with “he has 100 caps and played at the highest level” nonsense. Yobo has always been a “willing tool” in the hands of the officials (even while he was still playing), so he was there on a mission…unfortunately their plan seems to be failing.
I’ve always dared pinnick to hand the home-based eagles to Yobo to coach if he was 100% sure hiring him was the right thing to do…LMAO….the same Yobo Mr Mathematical was recommending should lead us to the 2022 World cup in Qatar…..LMAO.
Funny country with funny people…!