Stand-in captain for the Super Falcons of Nigeria at the just concluded 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Chiamaka Nnadozie heroics will be in the memories of many fans for time to come staring from her penalty save in the opening game against Canada and with many other performances before the bitter R-16 exit.
The Super Falcons, who were making their ninth FIFA Women’s World Cup appearance gave yet another memorable display all the way to the round of 16 where they narrowly lost out 4-2 on penalties after a goalless tie with England.
A lot of doubt was cast upon the Nigerians prior to the kick-off of the competition after they were drawn in a tough Group B that consisted of Australia, Canada and Republic of Ireland where they finished second with one of the tournament upsets being their 3-2 victory over co-hosts, Australia in front of their home crowd.
The Paris FC shot stopper prevented Chrstine Sinclair from giving Canada the lead to earn Randy Waldrum’s sdie the first point of the WWC and with subsequent displays, she was deservedly given a top spot in the FIFA Technical Study Group, FTSG African players individual brilliance selection.
Individual Brilliance:
There were six African players named Player of the Match by the FIFA Technical Study Group
1. Nigerian goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie (against Canada)
2. Morocco’s Ibtissam Jraidi (against the Republic of Korea)
3. South Africa’s Thembi Kgatlana (against Argentina)
4. South Africa’s Hildah Magaia (against Italy)
5. Morocco’s Anissa Lahmari (against Colombia)
6. Zambia’s Barbra Banda (against Costa Rica)
Other noticeable performance came from the likes of Zambia’s Rachael Kundananji, who clocked the fastest recorded speed of the competition at 33.2 km/h, while Nigeria’s Christy Ucheibe was amongst the top 5 defenders of the tournament with 36 successful tackles made.
