Former Super Eagles coach Austin Eguavoen has congratulated the Super Falcons after they qualified for the round of 16 at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The game ended 0-0 on Monday, July 31 at Lang Park in Brisbane.
Katie MCcabe almost scored for Ireland in the fourth minute and Barcelona striker Asisat Oshoala had a chance to score nine minutes later but her shot flashed past the post.
Uchenna Kanu nodded Toni Payne’s cross at the Ireland goal in the 52nd minute but the Irish goalkeeper tipped the ball to the crossbar.
Oshoala had another chance to score a minute later after she was teed up in towards the 18 yard box but her shot went agonizing wide.
Oshoala was subbed off for Gift Monday subsequently and Ifeoma Onumonu was brought in for Uchenna Kanu.
Monday went on a mazy run in added time dribbling past several Irish defenders before laying on a pass to Rasheedat Ajibade who fired a shot that was comfortably saved by Ireland’s goalkeeper.
The referee blew the whistle for full-time in the 97th minute.
Eguavoen took to Twitter to hail the team after their historic feat.
“Congratulations to our Queens! Well done Randy Waldrum and the entire backroom staff. We keep going,” she Tweeted
The Super Falcons will play England, Denmark or China on the round of 16.
The Super Falcons finished second in Group B with five points from three games and Australia finished in first place with seven points from the same number of games
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Eguavon she? Australia finished with 6 points
Nnadozie’s penalty save against Canada. That was not only a match-saving save, it was also a tournament-saving save. If Sinclair had scored, it might be Canada, and not Nigeria, that is moving on to the next round.
The exit of the Olympic champions is one of the major shocks so far in the competition. Their calamitous collapse against the Matildas brought their world cup campaign to an ignominous end. They were largely expected to make it out of the group, and even challenge for the trophy. Alas, all that is now blowing in the wind.
Waldrum, against all odds, has gotten this team into the second round. He has really done well organizing them defensively, as evidenced by 2 clean sheets in 3 games, against tough opponents.
Going forward I hope that poor finishing will not be our undoing in this tournament. That is one area Waldrum and co. need to finetune.
100% Pompei. I agree with you 100%.
Our players do not have so much football sense going forward, for us to be able to challenge the top guns.
Oshoala that calls herself “agba baller” plays like Opeyemi Ajakaye most of the times and can hardly carry the SF on her soldiers the way other “agba ballers” do. I mean, look at that chance vs Ireland in the first 15 minutes of that game. She had done well to drag the GK and the CB away from goal, I expected her to bend the ball easily into the net with her left or sidefoot it rather than dipping her toes beneath the ball the way she did, or even just put enough power behind the ball to just take it past the GK.
For a team that doesnt create too many clear cut chances, those 1 and a half chances out to be finished with precision and optimum efficiency.
I am just hoping our defensive organization can stand everything England will throw at us in attack while we try to pull off a Bankole Olowoekere’s u17s type of run to the semis.
Ajakaiye plays better than Oshoala,she has an eye-catching performances for the under17’s and recently the under20’s.!Her performance was disappointing for a Barcelona player you do expect better than what she displays in our colour.She struggles to make the desired impact for the super falcons.Though she scored an important goal against Australia besides that,she has scored low for me and her misses in todays game was very dismaying.
But honestly,i think that the vast majority of the fans have been disappointed by her.
I stand to be corrected, but Oshoala’s goal vs Australia seems to be her first competitive goal for the SF since Waldrum became coach….and 3rd in total.
I hope my memory serves me right now…..I stand to be corrected by anyone who has more correct figures.
Though I also blame Randy’s tactics which sorts of put so much distance between the CF, the WFs and the CAM, but truth be told Oshoala in SF has been more than disappointing. The way she lashes out at some types of balls can make you nearly puke, considering her age and level of experience and exposure. This is a girl who has played in Arsenal, Liverpool and now plays in Barcelona.
In Barca shirt, she’s a balon dor nominee. Infact as at last Season her posters were all over the nou camp as she modelled most of their jerseys….but in SF colors, damn Im sorry, but I will gladly start Opeyemi Ajakaye over her….!!! At least if Opeyemi is messing up, I will know its inexperience that is her problem.
At Old age, the likes of Akide and Nkwocha were sources of inspiration when we need some. I cant forget Akide’s goals vs Sweden and Germany at the 2004 Olympics which ironically was her last major tournament playing for Nigeria.
I concur with you brother!Ajakaiye would have done better,i was gutted after that miss one on one with the Irish netminder.I do not see Ireland doing a comeback had we scored with our consistently impregnable backline ready to ward off their attacks.
Honestly,i would avoid England in the round of 16.Had Oshoala buried her chances we would have finished tops,any of China and Denmark will pose less treat than the English.
We have our back to the wall now.
Honestly, I would have preferred Denmark of China too.
1-0 up against Ireland in the 15th minute, the Irish girls would have poured more girls forward and given us room to further hit them on the counter.
But, man proposes, God disposes.
The God that saw us through Olympic Champions Canada, hosts and favourites Australia and a very decent Irish team would see us through England.
Sincerely, those 3 group games for me have been a perfect way to prepare for England and 5 (easily could have been 7) out of 9 points isnt a bad return.
Meanwhile, they should all start practicing penalties o. That could end up being our joker. We dont create so many chances so the goals to win in regulation time might be hard to come by.
But really, times have changed. In the early 2000s, we would comfortably dismember England with goals. We walloped them 3-0 in London in 2004 or thereabouts. A largely homebased falcons also walloped Arsenal ladies 5-1 in Lagos too at about that time, when Kanu brought them to Nigeria to help raise funds for the Kanu Heart Foundation.
See us now fidgeting because we want to meet England. All thanks to our No Future Ambition NFF who couldnt build on the gains of 1999 womens world cup
Top marks Pompei. I had expected a more finetuned technique from Oshoala for the two big chances she missed today. On both occasions she would run the ball a bit further from goal before applying a tepid finish that didn’t do justice to a player of her stature – one or both of those chances should have scored.
Onumonu as well, very good in helping the team retrieve possession and being on the front foot. But her movements into delicate areas, first touches and goal sniffing capabilities, haven’t really stuck the landing.
Kanu is a poacher but we are yet to see Okoronkwo, Oparanozie and Gift Monday have a run in the centre forward role. It’s been largely Onumonu and Oshoala. Both have really tried in lifting the team to achieve this remarkable position in the group.
Perhaps, if the formation didn’t demand this much defensive input from them, perhaps they could have had more margins for error in front of goal.
Dr Drey,bAm I being unfair to say Oshoala lacks technique. I don’t follow her Barcelona performances but from what I hear, I expected far better application. The way she hit the ball on both occasions projected the image of a homebased striker. I would excuse Gift Monday for such touches but Oshoala, I felt let down.
I tend not to expect Onumonu to score, I don’t know why. Kanu seems to be the only one I can vouch for. Maybe a fit Oparanozie. The defensive emphasis does not allow Ajibade enough time to get into delicate areas whilst Payne is a war horse expected to create, not score, goals.
Deo, I kid you not, Assisat lacks technique. Like I said after the Canada game, no one would be mistaken to take her for a homebased player
But she makes up for that with her unusual speed. Right from her U20 days, only few female footballers in the world like Greig Mbock Bathy can match her pace for pace. So she can easily outrun her opponents and get through on goal face to face with the goalkeeper…..and hold it…..even at that, she only ends up converting goal chacnes 50% and above…all because of this lack of technique.
Ive seen a couple of her games at Barcelona, I’m not lying, If you hear Assisat scored 2 goals in 1 game, trust me she has squandered like 5 others that a player like Alexia would have scored.
For a girl of her height has anyone wondered why it is rare to recall if Assisat ever scored a headed goal for the SF….?.
I wish Onumonu had that physical “kpako” strength of the average home-bred girl. That girl’s movements alone makes me swell with pride. Just watch the way she moves when she doesnt have the ball. The 1st chance Assisat dragged wide earlier today is similar to the one Ify converted at AWCON…..she was released into space and she just sidefooted across the face of the goal. Look at her headeer vs Morrocco too that rebounded off the upright b4 it was bundled in eventually….pure class and finesse in heading it downwards and angling it to the opposite corner. Not even Gigi Buffon would have succeeded in an attempt to stop that ball. And her pinpoint cross to Ajibade vs Cameroon for the goal that got us here….?? That was one assist that deserved a goal.
No wonder she was named in the US National Womens’ Soccer League team of the season for 2021. What she lacks in power and pace, she makes up for with intelligence and technique. If Only Waldrum’s can tweak his attacking tactics a little to enable the CF, WFs and CAM play a little narrower and leave the bylines to the fullbacks to run. Kanu benefits a lot from her movements as she tends to draw the CBs with her, creating pockets of space centrally for her to attack. Playing as a lone CF is never gonna bring out the best in Ify
And if Randy is bent on continuing with the same pattern, I’ll suggest Onumonu (or Oparanozie when fit) starting games and Oshoala coming on with her raw, fresh, blazing hot pace and strength to finish off opponents like she did vs Australia.
But at this point, we should all just accept that Assisat has gotten to the point where she cant add anything new to her game anymore. She’s become an old dog that cant learn new tricks. Lets keep on enjoying whatever she’s got left in her tank.
But as for showing up always in the big games……I wouldnt put my money on that.
You could see that expression of disappointment on the face of Oshoala on the bench after the final whistle. She must have pondered what could have been had she put that golden chance away and how it could come back to haunt us in the round of 16. Tbh, England are a top, top team; in the same bracket as a USA, Japan, Brazil, or Sweden. I think there were a finalist in the last edition in France.
Denmark would have been an easier route, while the 2 heavyweights England and Australia slug it out for the QF ticket. Hopefully, we pull off another stunner and play more offensively while keeping it tight and neat at the back.
And is it just me or is Nnadozie tiring out? Who’s deputizing for her? We seem to be over relying on her and she’s starting to burn out and make small errors, misjudgments, and mistiming here and there.
Waldrum is clearly a very tactical coach, but I don’t think he’s figured out his most potent front line combination yet. Onumonu is silky but lacks stamina. Oparanozie is experienced and fierce, but hasn’t looked fit in a long time; and Oshoala, she does pull her weight like her contemporaries like Rapinone(USA), Marta(Brazil), Sam Kerr, Renard(France), and but not quite enough.
We go again next Monday. England out!
Oga, you had better notmention Nnadozie in that light again before some tribal bigot calls you a bushman or mumu. As far as they are concerned you can criticise SF players as long as you don’t do same for their stainless tribeswoman.
You should be ashamed of yourself for bringing your idiotic and unrefined mindset here. Who is talking about tribe of ethnicity here? Is this a platform to discuss Tinubu, OBI and Atiku and politics. All we are saying here boil down to commending the mind-blowing efforts of our female team players and pointing out lapses in the team that should be corrected to make the team better. But the only thing you could bring to the table here is to label a tribe bigots and fan the embers of tribalism and ethnicism. Who is else did you refer to bigots here if not the Igbos? Yes, I am sure you are talking about Igbos because the ‘Nnadozie’ you brought into focus here is Igbo and her people are Igbos. If not that you are a big fool, you should have been able to tell yourself that you are the animalistic bigot, who has senselessly introduced ethnicism on a national sports platform of this nature. Ewu monkey.
Pls don’t bite me. Save yourself of the stress, Mr Idiotic. The person I’m referring to already got the message.
You sound moronic, the discussion was going well with purposeful contributions before your bigotry here . You can see you have been eaten up like a true tribal bigot, nothing in your moronhead , concentrate on the discuss and allow the Igbos to breathe!!
Eeyah. I’ve awoken the bigotry in you.
Muyiya, you are an idiot.
Nigeria always have themselves in very difficult situations going into knockout stages,where teams play to avoid big opponent’s instead we play to meet them.
Frankly speaking,England are a huge side it won’t be a stroll in the park.Well experienced,i wonder how we can contain their barrel of attacks knowing we play on the back foot and not very good stringing passes without conceeding possession.I honestly would like to avoid England but it’s what it’s i will watch it like every other game not investing too much emotions knowing the likely outcome,we have our backs against the wall,the odds are against us,but i will never write the super falcons off though,they have shown tenacity and determination.
Its always a joy to read some comments filled with eloquence on this forum however we have to be careful of the way we criticize or allow our judgement to be corroded by some cry cry babies on this forum.
Of course one would have expected to score the goal she missed because great players are expected to put away that chance. Therefore, i’m not surprised at the level of disappointment from real national team supporters.
But to ignore Ifeoma’s ineffectiveness throughout the tournament , Kanu’s MIA in the game against Australia, and Nnadozie clumsiness against Ireland tells much about your bias opinion and ethnic bigotry.
Hate or like her, Asisat remains the most accomplished Nigerian footballer snd the greatest African female footballer of all time…
Ask these dummies, who the greatest Nigerian footballer is and they will come up with a player that participated in 3 AFCONS and two WC without a goal or a trophy.
You no see your shame ?… How many times have we campaigned against Onumonu?… So Nnadozie that saved Nigeria and brought us to this stage is now clumsy, you are a moron!!.. Asisat have never been the best striker with super falcons and everyone knows that , when Opeyemi is far better than her !!..she has a ball to tip over the Irish goal keeper and score for Nigeria and save us the agonizing wait to meet england but she blew it away !!..A Japanese striker had similar chance with Spain, go and see how she scored it and you are here defending your stupidity and tribal bigotry!!
You started your comment well and also made real sense, but you destroyed it with an irrelevant stinking stupid tribalist sappiness. You couldn’t even hide the fact that you are a corroborated chauvinist and a narrow minded tribesman. Your submission is garbage.
@ Larry.
This is not a matter of Tribalism. The truth still remains that if Oshola had converted one of those chances begging to be converted in the Ireland vs Nigeria match, we would have been meeting a weaker team. Even Oshola is my mother, I will still say it the way it is. Do not also forget that it wasn’t Nnadozie that gave Canada that penalty, but out of God’s grace and her experience and sound calculation, she swiftly stopped that penalty to help bring us to where we are now. Yes, it would have been better, if you had pointed out her miscalculations and suggested ways she could better secure our net from other teams. You call a woman who stopped a penalty that some Super Eagles goalies cannot stop, to help Nigeria get to where she is now clumsy. You are really a narrow minded tribesman. Once again, your submission is balderdash
To be a champion, you have to compete with the best. Playing against England is very good for us. I prefer England to Demerk because the English team is not that strong. I am a one man team, but Demerk is more complex and dangerous.
It will be easier for our team if they believe in themselves and go out their to beat any team. Good luck to Super Falcons. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
Omo9ja you are correct, England is over hype, they struggled against Haiti, they won by a repeated penalty kick. I agree with you, they are not inform right now. I saw their game against Denmark, it was a solitary strike that made the difference. If the falcons show a little bit of some aggression and harass them, they can beat England. That lazy girl Ifeoma Onumonu should be on the bench. She is too sluggish.
Netherlands is currently destroying Vietnam 6 -0 while Portugal is tied on 0-0 with the US, with less than 20 minutes to go. As it is, the Netherlands may top the group ahead of the more fancied US team in that group.
So who knows if England will actually finish top of their group? China may pull a surprise and beat them while Denmark beats Haiti today. In this case, Denmark will top the group, while a tie breaker is used to separate England and China for the second spot.
And if those permutations don’t go that way, we should recollect how we were all gutted to finish second in our group in the last U20 World Cup cos that meant we would face the home team, Argentina, but surprise, surprise we dispatched Argentina but lost to a less fancied South Korea in the QF.
I agree with you. I prefer Gift Monday to Onuachu. Onuachu is a good player no doubt she will get better as time goes on.
I hope Oparanozie is fully fit before the second round. All in all, we give God the glory. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
You and this your “Onuachu” dey always dey make me laugh lol. I beg, Onumonu is different from Onuachu na lol.
I’m not really scared of England. Never! My major challenge is our forward movement. Damn! Our turnover rate is too poor. Sometime you wonder what exactly the problem is. If Waldrum can fashion out an attacking combination, possibly without Osoala starting, and a midfield that will not be too far from the strikers, I don’t see any team beating us in this competition.
While we are very good at retrieving the ball, we are so poor at using the same ball. Players hold on unnecessarily to the ball while a simple pass would have created better opportunities going forward. We also like running into traffic or inviting opponents to fight for the ball with us. Then the decision making of our strikers is zero. If the shot isn’t weak, it will be wayward. That’s the major reason we couldn’t best ROI and Canada. And we may not get away with this against a more organized opponent like Sweden or Japan.
I love the contribution of Monday Gift. She’s far more dynamic than many our strikers I’ve seen in competition. For Onumonu, I realized yesterday that she’s very intelligent on the ball, more like Papilo. Only if we can get a smart, intelligent striker to work with her. I just hope we fix our attacking problem before the next match.
Comparing Opeyemi Ajakaye to Osoala is quite laughable Lmao!! Naija fans never disappoints. Anyway that’s why we’re fanatics. In all honesty we had no chance against any opposition in that group if not for the conservative and disciplined approach adopted by the coach and the team spirit cum determination of our players we had no business qualifying from that group.
Ajakaye can’t even lace Asisat boots in 4 years time. Maybe afterwards. Until she scores 30 goals for the SuperFalcons like Osoala has done so far in her career, it is very laughable to compare her with Osoala at this time in her career.. Yes I was gutted she missed those chances, maybe with a little composure she could’ve scored one of the two scoring chances. Everyone knows she’s been battling fitness issues all season yet she scored 27 goals for Barcelona.
I would’ve love to avoid England, but anything is possible in football talk less of female football which is unpredictable. Our collective team spirit sprinkled with some talents like Nnadozie Payne Osoala Kanu Alozie and Ajibade is what took us this far. Anybody that never gave the team a chance from the get go should please lower their expectations. At least we made it out of a difficult group.
Asisat is playing accordingly with team’s strengths and she doesn’t have the luxury of assist she gets at Barcelona therefore, I won’t put too much pressure on her. Although she carries the hopes of over 200 million people. However, It is still her goal against Australia that actually help our qualification to the next stage along with Nnadozie penalty save. Let’s see how they can hold their own against a possible England matchup. If we hold them all the way to the wire we can beat them. It’s not over until it’s over.
AYP de Gr8…..Class is class. Let Oshoala win 15 AFOTY awards, if her first touch, decision making and technique is still like that of Opeyemi Ajakaye, she will be compared to Opeyemi Ajakaye.
England just scored their second goal vs China now….a replica of the first chance Assisat wasted. The first touch of Hemp when she received the pass from James was a goal on its own. It just set the ball up perfectly to be side footed into the net with har left foot.
Assisat would have taken 3 touches from the same pass like Ajakaye, over run it to a tight impossible angle and use the wrong foot and technique to try to get it past the GK.
If you call yourself “agba baller”, please do well to live up to the name.
We are going into the knockout stage now where things will get tighter and tougher and will require moments of inspiration and brilliance and not just brut strength or pace to see us through games.
Opeyemi is 17, Assisat is 28…who says Opeyemi cannot score 30 goals for the SF over the course of the next 10 years if she grows into a more complete striker with both pace and technique….???
Dr Drey I get your point. I was disappointed when Asisat missed that gaping chance in the 15th minute. I was expecting the net to ripple. I have no idea how the ball missed the net. She failed to apply the composure needed at a critical time and she knew it. The header from Kanu and the other chance Asisat missed in the second were half chances.
Do you know that Opeyemi Ajakaye only scored 1 goal at the U17 WorldCup?? In the 3rd place match against Germany. I’m glad you said she may score 30 goals in 10 years time. No doubt she has a future, but senior team football is a different ball game.
For now she can’t be compared to Osoala. She still got a lot to learn in the game. She should light up the U20 WorldCup first. Anything can happen against England. If we hold them to the wire we might have a chance and if we lose so be it. Nobody gave them a chance to go this far anyway. I just like the fact that there’s a direction our football is going and the future isn’t looking bad at all.
Obviously, NFF onigbese will continue to be a headache, but Nigeria has the human capacity to always churn out talents.
Now that is the problem…..we are not comparing Ajakaye to Oshoala, actually, we are comparing Oshoala to Ajakaye. You get the drift…?
At least we can forgive Ajakaye if she takes 3 touches after receiving such a sweet through ball before dragging it wide, because like you said, she has got a lot to learn in the game…but when an ex Arsenal, ex Liverpool, Current Barcelona player needs to learn composure and technique, then there it problem.
That is what is paininng most of us.
Eni ti a n wo ti n woran…..that is the case in this instance. Super Zee is the poster girl of our SF. He name and presence should send shivers down the spine of our opponents, her first shot (on or off target) in a game should be sending danger signals to our opponents. When things are getting thing for us, she should be the one to do that legover that will delete 2 defenders, or that mazzy run to goal that will open a stubborn defence or bend that last minute free kick that will secure a win…you get what Im saying. She should be our own Martha of Brazil, or Mia Hamm/Abby Wambach/Rapinoe of USA or Eugene Le’Sommer of France or even Luara James of England (Im watching her doing magic vs China at the moment).
AY,
Allow me to participate in this conversation if you don’t mind. I think you are not getting the Oshoala-Ajakaiye comparison.
You see, the way I read if from Dr Drey and Greenturf, they aren’t comparing the two ladies player-for-player. Rather it is a metaphor.
All they are saying is that Oshoala is displaying the sort of finishing and skill that you would expect of Opeyemi Ajakaiye. Why put an Oshoala on the pitch and get the product of an Ajakaiye.
If you are going to expect Ajakaiye output, why didn’t we just invite Ajakaiye. Instead we are seeing Ajakaiye-in-Oshoala’s skin.
Ajakaiye is not as good as Oshoala as things stand. Oshoala has achieved so much in football that it is almost impossible expecting Ajakaiye to match her achievements.
That said, the output that Oshoala has largely produced in this world cup has Ajakaiye’s name all over it: attacking instincts bereft of cutting edge techniques!
In fairness, The runs belongs to Oshoala, the positioning belongs to Oshoala but the finish is from Ajakaiye’s rule book.
Or are we seeing a clone of the much vaunted Oshoala?
I don’t know if I am making any sense.
oh ok. Deo did a fastest fingers first on me…! But very on point.
“…Why put an Oshoala on the pitch and get the product of an Ajakaiye…”
All these is down to the chance she missed. Asisat has moved away from that player that will be doing leg over and mazzy runs at defenders.
She’s been playing as an out and out striker since she moved to Barcelona 5 years ago. The difference is she can’t get the kind of services she gets at her club playing for the National team.
Even if she decides to do the mazzy runs and leg overs for the National team she will quickly tire out and fade away before 60 minutes. Since she hasn’t been playing like that for a long time.
The way the coach set them up is to play as a team and be compact. Then hit their opponents on the counter. We just haven’t perfected that strategy like the Japanese.
All those players you mentioned have great supporting cast around them. When they don’t perform somebody always step up for them. Imagine Asisat scoring 27 goals in Europe despite fitness issues. The next SuperFalcons top scorer is Ajibade with like 10 goals or so.
It will be difficult against England, but it’s game on anything is possible. As long as they don’t quaver I will appreciate every effort they put in.
**quiver**
@ Larry.
This is not a matter of Tribalism. The truth still remains that if Oshola had converted one of those chances begging to be converted in the Ireland vs Nigeria match, we would have been meeting a weaker team. Even Oshola is my mother, I will still say it the way it is. Do not also forget that it wasn’t Nnadozie that gave Canada that penalty, but out of God’s grace and her experience and sound calculation, she swiftly stopped that penalty to help bring us to where we are now. Yes, it would have been better, if you had pointed out her miscalculations and suggested ways she could better secure our net from other teams. You call a woman who stopped a penalty that some Super Eagles goalies cannot stop, to help Nigeria get to where she is now clumsy. You are really a narrow minded tribesman. Once again, your submission is balderdash.
@Danurch, anyone that considers Nnadozie as a savior for her heroics against Canada but ignores the significance if Asisat’s goal against Australia to our qualification is either a hater or lacks simple logic.
Anyone that ignores Nnadozie’s errors against Ireland, Ifeoma’s less than 50% pass completion, zero attempt at goal in the last two games,and Kanu’s ineffectiveness against Australia, but can only see faults in Asisat is either unjust or an ethnic jingoist.
Ask delusional qnd ethnic jingoist who the greatest Nigerian Footballer, he or she will come up with a striker that attended 3 AFCONS and 2 WCs without scoring a goal or winning a trophy.
if Nigeria is going to meet England, the full-time score would be draw. Then in extra-time, anybody can win.
Omo9ja shud be banned from dis forum d guy no Sabi anything ball na only ire o him sabi.
LOL….
Lmao