June 11, (THEWILL)- In the first game of the four-nation WNT Summer Series 2021, the Super Falcons of Nigeria were a shadow of the side that whitewashed the Nzalang Femenino of Equatorial Guinea 9-nil at the Gold City Tournament in Antalya, Turkey this February and went on to win the competition as the first African side to do so.
Instead, on Thursday, the Reggae Girlz of Jamaica were the more dominant side and displayed their desire to take a win from the Falcons in the first ever meeting between the female sides of both nations in all competitions. Where the Falcons appeared indecisive and prone to errors, the Reggae Girlz displayed composure and tactical posturing.
In the end, a second-half goal from homegirl, Houston Dash defender, Deneisha Blackwood, who tallied in the 51st minute at her club’s home stadium, was all it took to defeat Nigeria 1-0, their first loss under the watch of the new manager, who was hired last October.
Coincidentally, Nigeria’s coach, the American Randy Waldrum, was the former head coach for the Dash from 2014-2017 and the WNT Summer Series took him back to his old stomping grounds in his new position as Super Falcons’ manager.
The match began encouragingly for the ladies from Nigeria as they were first to make a few dangerous forays into the half of the Jamaican ladies but the first real goal attempt came from a penalty awarded to the Reggae Girlz which clearly illustrated why the best player in Green-White-Green was the Falcons’ goalkeeper, Tochukwu Oluehi.
Oluehi faced Blackwood in the box as the Houston Dash defender waited for the referee, Tori Penso of the US, to signal for her to take a penalty kick which Penso awarded for a 25th minute infringement on Jamaican forward Jody Brown, fresh off winning an NCAA title with Florida State, who dribbled into the box towards goal until Nigerian midfielder Rita Chikwelu, brought her down.
Oluehi showed quick reflexes to drop to her right as Blackwood hit the ball to stop the shot and recovered speedily, getting up and diving forward to claim the ball before anyone else could make it to the rebound. It was a masterful display all round with Oluehi earning her stripes to keep the match scoreless.
As the match began to slow down under the summer humidity and 90-degree temperatures of June in Texas, Nigeria finally had the ball in the net through the legs of late first half substitute Ijeoma Okoronkwo. She finished brilliantly at the far post from the left side of the penalty area, but the goal was correctly called for offside in the 50th minute.
Immediately after, Jamaica scored the determining goal with Blackwood making the difference. A Jamaican free-kick into the middle of the Falcons’ penalty area found midfielder Vyan Sampson, who crashed into a Nigeria defender trying to stop the ball, allowing the ball to slip through and Jody Brown ran it down before cutting a pass back to Blackwood, who did not miss from eight yards with a left-footer.
Nigeria tried for an equaliser as time wound down. An 83rd minute incursion into the Jamaican area by Falcons’ striker Michelle Alozie resulted in a left-footed blast of her own from outside the box that only struck the crossbar. The power in the hit made the ball bounce down and out the post and got cleared away from danger.
As the Super Falcons went forward in search of an equaliser, the Reggae Girlz came close to doubling their advantage. Again, Oluehi was the one that kept the score respectable because substitute midfielder Tiffany Cameron got loose on a breakaway and came face to face with the Nigerian keeper.
Fast off her line, Oluehi closed the gap to narrow Cameron’s options and then did well to hold her own before going to the ground to save the first shot. Two extra follow-up chances from Jamaica were cleared out of the goal mouth as no further goals came from either side before the match ended in Jamaica’s favour.
The result flattered the Falcons, still. Expectations were very high for the Nigerian ladies heading into the tournament especially because of the improved state of their play and the role coach Waldrum played in that improvement. He was also trusted to know how best to make the Falcons win in his return to familiar environments and his foreknowledge of some of the Jamaican team.
The excuse for the display finally comes down to the absence of regular first team starters such as team captain and striker of Barcelona Femeni, Asisat Oshoala, whose presence could have made a definitive difference and some others. According to Waldrum, efforts are being made to sort out the visa bottlenecks keeping them away so that they can join the squad soonest.
Yet, THEWILL believes that the initial confidence in the ladies to give a proper showing of themselves at the WNT Summer Series has been dampened with the performance against the Reggae Girlz. This is because on June 13 and 16, the Super Falcons are expected to face the Seleccao das Quintas of Portugal and the USWNT of America, the FIFA World Cup champions, respectively.
In their opener on Thursday night, the Portuguese ladies stood their ground but ultimately lost by a lone goal to the World champions. The consideration now is that only a markedly improved overall performance by Waldrum’s ladies can prevent them from being disgraced out of the tournament in much the same fashion as they have hammered others when they played impressively.
Waldrum has very little time to bring in these improvements as the matches are coming hard and fast. The earlier he can get them playing at their best and bring in currently absent squad players to step up their quality, the better for the side and the impression he can make so early in his position as the team coach.
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.
