Female national team, Super Falcons’ coach, Thomas Dennerby is still taking stock of his side’s romp to glory as champions of the African Women Cup of Nations in Ghana, and says team work was their biggest asset during the competition.
Although many critics believe the Falcons were not at their very best during the competition, sports246.ng can report that Dennerby is giving his side a pat on the back for a job well done, as they won the championship for a third straight edition and qualified for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.
While admitting that Halimat Ayinde and Tochukwu Ouehi played key roles for the squad at AWCON 2018, Dennerby insists it was more of working together as a team and stopped short of naming any individual payer for standing out.
His verdict might have accounted for how only two of the Nigerian players finally made it to the start competition’s all-stars team, as technical buffs pointed out that there was no individual flair in the squad, and their typical Nigerian style appeared modeled in a compact European style.
Whatever the verdicts from pundits, Dennerby insists winning the trophy proved him right, and stressed that it was all about the Falcons standing together as a team.
The Swedish tactician, though, admitted he will have to see one of the key players stand out on a personal level during the FIFA Women’s World Cup next year, as he believes the higher level of action would demand more ingenuity that could make a difference during tight matches.
Dennerby added: “’I think Halimat had a good tournament, Tochokwu had a good tournament in goal, (but) all the defending line played well.
”I don’t think that we really had one player that was really outstanding, I think we had high standard of many players, more than one that was totally outstanding.
“When it comes to the World Cup or Olympics, you need one player, to have the best tournament of her life.
”If we are lucky, it could be one of the forwards, because if we have the forwards in extremely top form, it’s likely to be a successful team.
”But this time I think it was more about the team, but Halimat and Tochukwu, were the ones who played at highest level throughout the five games.”
