FIFA Women’s World Cup: Super Falcons lose 4-2 on penalties to England, fail to reach Q-Finals

Nigeria’s Super Falcons failed to make it beyond the knock-out stage of the FIFA World Cup co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, as they lost 4-2 via penalty shootouts to England Lionesses, Monday morning.

The match played at the Park Lane in Brisbane, Australia ended 0-0 in 90 minutes of regulation time. A further 30 minutes of extra time produced a stalemate resulting in penalty kicks.

The England Women are the reigning European champions.

However, Nigeria’s opening two spot kicks were missed by Desire Oparanozie and Michelle Alozie, with Rasheedat Ajibade and Christy Ucheibe converting theirs. Though England Lionesses missed their opening penalty, they converted the remaining for to progress into quarter finals of the tournament.

England now joins the likes of Japan, Netherlands, Sweden and Spain who have all reached the quarter finals of the ongoing FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Netherlands Women beat South Africa, weekend, as Sweden defeated United States via penalty shootouts.

The Super Falcons won a numerical advantage in the match when in the 86^th minute, a red card was shown to England Lionesses’s Lauren James for a deliberate stamp on Alozie. However, the Nigerian girls could convert their numerous chances in the remaining stages of the match.

The match was played at 8:30 am Nigerian time, Monday.

Earlier, during a pre-match press conference, the Super Falcons coach, Randy Waldrum said his biggest takeaway, no matter how good a win against the European champions would be, will still not be an in-game moment but instead the time spent working with the players who have battled so hard to make their mark.

“The penalty against Canada, big moment, Chiamaka [Nnadozie] makes that save, huge moment from [Uchenna] Kanu to get a goal back against Australia right before the [end of the first] half, it changed everything for us.

“There’s a lot of big moments I can remember and take away from this. Honestly, the best part for me all along is the players. I can’t speak for them on what the connection is to me. I can only tell of my feeling towards the players. I hope they know I’m here and I will fight for them for anything. That means not only on the pitch, that means in life now and in life 20 years from now. I took Trinidad & Tobago and tried to qualify in the World Cup in Canada [in 2015], I’m still in touch with those players now, it’s not a one-off thing.

“I hope they understand and know that I will be there for them, and I will fight for them. Sometimes a coach has to be a voice when they don’t have a voice. On a personal level, they know that if they pick up a phone, I’ll help them however I can. The key moment for me is every time I get to step on a pitch and train with them. That’s my happy zone. A lot of people go and play golf to take their mind somewhere else, my time to do that is when I’m on the pitch with these players. When this World Cup is over, I’ll take that back with me.”

That Nigeria have escaped a group with the co-hosts Australia and the Olympic champions, Canada, against a backdrop of strife, speaks to the potential of the nation.

“I’m just giving the credit to the players, it’s something that’s inside them, it’s in their DNA to compete and overcome obstacles because that’s what they’ve done through their careers.

“It’s a challenge, it’s a real challenge. We know what the top teams have and we’re aspiring to have those things. We are where we are, and it’s really come down to just trying to get the team organised as best we can and maximise the talent that each individual player brings to the table.

“I just credit the players so much for the work they’ve put into this World Cup and you can see the talent is there. Nigeria could be a world power if we start to do things properly and invest like so many other nations need to do as well,” Waldrum said.