It was indeed sad for Nigerians and the Super Falcons as they lost 2-1 to Bayana Bayana of South Africa in the opening game. The team and coach have been heavily criticized by both the media and fans. Nigerians questioned the coach’s ability to lead the women’s national team to victory. According to Plumptre Ashleigh, some teammates in the game didn’t do their best. The super Falcons of the African giants were mocked by the South Africa women’s national team coach when he said their strategies didn’t suit his side. To add insult to injury, the star player, who was named four-time African of the Year, suffered an injury and was immediately flown to Spain for medical treatment. Which automatically rules her out of the tournament.
There’s a saying that it’s not over until it’s over. Things started to smile for our super Falcons as they beat Botswana 2-0 which gave us a glimmer of hope of qualifying for the Quarter Finals.
“We played very well in the first half and controlled the game, but we got a bit sloppy in the second half. There is definitely room for improvement, but I like the way the team has developed so far,” explained Waldrum afterward
The deal is sealed, the Super Falcons qualified for the Quarters finals after beating Burundi 4-0, and we retained our lost glory. According to his statements, head coach Waldrum is very impressed by his team
“We improve in every game we play. We’re executing well on our plans and I’m happy with the reaction from the players in our last two games. We have urgency in the way we play.”
“We also gave younger players a chance to get a feel for the tournament so we can also rest some of the players who played difficult minutes.”
“I’m very impressed. You can see it tonight. We started with Uchenna [Kanu] and she came through. Rasheedat [Ajibade] was great today. Peace [Ewomazino Efih] and Uchenna were great in midfield. We have very useful talents. We have more good players to choose from. I have confidence in what we’re doing and we’re in a really good place.”
The Super Falcons will play with the Cameroonian national team in the quarterfinals, our prayers are with them.
