Bittersweet weekend for Women’s football as Nigeria’s Flamingos lost and the Falcons win
It was a bittersweet weekend for women’s football in Nigeria as the nation's U-17 team was eliminated from the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the senior team the Super Falcons beat Algeria in a friendly match.
Atletico Madrid forward Rasheedat Ajibade was the star of the show for Nigeria as the Super Falcons secured a 2-0 victory over visiting Algeria in Ikenne on Saturday afternoon.
Ajibade netted both of Nigeria’s goals in the first half of the encounter as the Super Falcons continued their dominance over the visiting North Africans.
The Super Falcons boast a 100 per cent winning record against Algeria, with the former African champions winning each of their previous three meetings.
Despite the absence of key players such as Jennifer Echegini, Asisat Oshoala, and Toni Payne, Nigeria displayed a strong determination to maintain its supremacy.
Head coach Justin Madugu, in the Falcons’ first match following the departure of Randy Waldrum, opted for a lineup that combined experienced overseas-based stars with talented homegrown players.
The starting eleven featured only five foreign-based professionals: goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie, defender Tosin Demehin, youngster Esther Onyenezide, and forwards Gift Monday and Rasheedat Ajibade.
Elsewhere, Nigeria’s junior women’s football team, Flamingos have crashed out of the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic as they saw their impressive journey in the competition come to an end after a hard-fought 0-2 quarter-final loss to the United States of America (USA) on Saturday.
One goal in each half by Kennedy Fuller 43′ (P) and Kimmi Ascanio 74′ ensured that Team USA got a deserved revenge against Nigeria following their defeat at the same stage two years ago in India.
Indeed, it was the first face-off between the two nations since Nigeria famously edged out the Americans in the quarter-finals of the 2022 edition of the tournament as Flamingos ran away with a 4-3 win after penalties.
From the start of the match, both teams displayed an intense competitive spirit, but the Americans ultimately capitalized on their opportunities to punish the Africans.
Perhaps, the turning point of the encounter came in the 43′ when Fuller converted a penalty which gave her country a 1-0 lead at halftime just as despite Nigeria’s attempts to equalize, the second half saw the Flamingos unable to break through a resilient American defense.
The pressure culminated in the 74′ when Kimmi Ascanio found the back of the net, doubling the lead and securing a semifinal berth for Team USA.
Flamingos had been a formidable force throughout the tournament, defeating both New Zealand and Ecuador in the group stage with decisive victories.
Coach Bankole Olowookere’s wards had approached this quarter-final with high hopes, having previously been one of the few African teams to reach the sem-finals in the tournament’s history but had to surrender to the superior firepower of the Americans on Saturday.
Statistics clearly showed that Team USA had an edge over Flamingos as the USA had 10 shots on target to Nigeria’s three in 90′ while they had 58%
ball possession to Nigeria’s 42%; 417 passes to 311 and pass accuracy of 71% to 63% respectively.
The loss marks the end of what has been a promising campaign for the Nigerians, who were aiming to improve on their 2022 third-place finish and maybe win Silver or Gold this time around but all those dreams have evaporated like the early morning dews.
