April 09, (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s Super Falcons were defeated 2-0 by Olympic champions, the Canadian women’s soccer team, in the first leg of their double-header friendly matches played at the B.C Place in the very early hours of Saturday.
In a game, where the Nigerian ladies went toe-to-toe with their hosts, to go into the break levelled at goalless, there was a lot to be consoled in the loss given that the Super Falcons had their chances and patches where they matched the Canadians in quality to the pleasure of coach Randy Waldrum.
Although the exciting match ended with a triumph for the North Americans, who were able to celebrate the Olympic gold months they won earlier in Tokyo in style, there were injury worries that will count against the Falcons in the second leg of the friendly matches.
In what is the second ever loss to the Canadians, Waldrum and his technical staff will be sweating injuries to the reliable goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie, veteran Onome Ebi, who was captain on the day, and Grace Kanu.
The injury to Nnadozie will be most disturbing, as she was the standout player for the Nigerians as, together with her defenders, she kept the attack-minded Canadians at bay in the first half. She made save after save to keep the furious home side from breaching her net.
At the other end, the Super Falcons could have been the side with the opener. In the 28th minute, Atletico Madrid’s Rasheedat Ajibade got through the Canadian defence and went for goal. But, Stephanie Labbe dived to make a fingertip save that kept the score at 0-0.
In the second half, the difference in quality between Canada and Nigeria, ranked 6th and 39th respectively, started to come to the surface. Jessie Flemming’s grabbed the opener in the 51st minute and by the 72nd minute, it was 2-0 from a Vanessa Gilles’ header.
The Super Falcons, who played the second half with Ashleigh Plumptre with the captain’s armband, could not find a way past Labbe in between the sticks for the Canadians and the result was just what the hosts needed to keep the festive atmosphere at B.C. Place going with the cheering crowd paying tribute to the Olympic champions.
Ahead of the second leg of the friendly series on Tuesday, however, Waldrum admitted that the team lost a bit of the composure that they maintained in the goalless first half when the second half kicked off. However, he believed that the experience will make the team better as a whole.
“We had to play some young players,” he said in post-match comments and highlighted the fact that there were some of the team’s best stars not featuring including Barcelona Femeni star forward, Asisat Oshoala, who is sidelined by injury.
Although there were other players missing in the lineup, including Francesca Ordega and Desire Oparanozie, the coach said it was a good outing nonetheless and was factual about the reality that a team may not always have all their players but will have to perform with what they had.
The injuries aside, the experience was considered an excellent preparation for the African Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON), which will be held in Morocco this summer and will also serve as the African qualifiers for the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
