Female football lovers have expressed their mixed reactions after the super falcons of Nigeria lost to the Japanese female national team in an organized World Cup preparation match.
The Super Falcons fell like a pack of cards to Japan in a friendly encounter on Thursday in the Noevir Stadium, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan. This has made Nigerians raise eyebrows as it’s believed that the 2 nil loss spells doom for the Falcons ahead of next year’s women’s world cup.
Tamaka of Japan was Falcons’ nightmare as she slot in two goals in quick succession over four minutes. She broke the deadlock with a well-played freekick and doubled the lead of the Nadeshikos as she sent goalkeeper Nnadozie the wrong way in a converted penalty kick.
Reacting to the defeat, Former Nigerian women’s national team assistant coach Mansur Abdullahi expressed his worry over the consistent losses of the Super Falcons ahead of the women’s World Cup. According to the coach, the way things are, Nigeria may not do too well as the signs are there.
“We conceded two goals in less than seven minutes which is not good at all. Our defenders are just ball-watching. We lost the game because we lost concentration and our attack is very poor.
“We need to panic because when we go to the World Cup, we will not meet pushover teams. They all qualified from their continents which means that they are the best at their continental level. It’s a cause to panic”.
On the other hand, former Falconet assistant coach, Ogbonda Whyte has poured cold water on the popular claim. He insisted that there is no cause for worry as there is still plenty of time.
“I don’t think that there is any reason to panic for now because we are still in the preparatory period. The coach is trying to test some new players who just came into the team. We still have time to build a team.
“Bearing in mind that these are just different players coming from different places. The coach too came new and he is still trying to study African football and mentality. There is no need to panic. Things will take shape before the world cup”
Japan have extended its winning streak against the African giants to three games and The Falcons of Nigeria on the other hand are now winless in their last five games. Next summer, New Zealand and Australia will host the rest of the world in the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
