Former England international of Nigeria descent, Eniola Aluko has lauded African teams’ eye-catching performances that were displayed in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup which is still currently going on in New Zealand and Australia.
Read Also: Lagos Street Soccer Committee To Embark On Venues Inspection
With three African countries in Nigeria, Morocco, and South Africa making it to the round 16 of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time, none made it to the semi-finals but albeit defeat, Nigeria’s fight against England, taking them to a penalty shoot-out against the Lioness has been the headline of various news outlet.
And for Eniola Aluko, the performance of Nigeria – who was ranked 40th in the world heading into the tournament was an example of the good health the women’s game is in while it was a challenge she believes will only benefit England.
She explained: “I was so impressed with the way Nigeria nullified England, tactically they man-marked Lauren James and Keira Walsh out of the game.”
“England didn’t know how to figure it out and I think Nigeria left with so many fans. It says something about where African women’s football is at that three African sides (Nigeria, South Africa, and Morocco) got through to the knockout stages,” she added.
“The way Nigeria played throughout. They beat the hosts Australia and they came through the toughest group so it’s a massive win for England in terms of getting past a difficult test.”
Before the anxiety of the penalty shootout, England was dealt a major blow when James who had lit up the tournament with three goals and three assists was sent off for violent conduct after stamping on Michelle Alozie.
Following that conduct, she was slammed with a two-match ban by FIFA, making her unavailable to participate in the quarter-final game against Colombia.
