Super Falcons of Nigeria will tackle Algeria in an international friendly match today, their first match after the Nigeria Football Federation failed to renew the contract of former coach, Randy Waldrum, Sports247 reports.
The team will be led by interim coach interim coach Justin Madugu who begins by naming a mixture of foreign based players and home based players for the encounter billed to take place at the Remo Stars Stadium Ikenne at 3 pm .
The blend of the best players in the domestic league and those playing their game abroad is a break away from Randy Waldrum’s method where the NWFL players rarely have a chance to fight for a shirt in the squad.
Nigeria will take on the Algerians in another fixture in Lagos on Tuesday ( 29 October 2024) at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, a move many analysts viewed as a new beginning of restoring the Super Falcons back on their old glory path.
The new phase will intend to banish the colourless days of Randy Waldrum at the helms of affairs, where the team struggled even on the continent as the Super Falcons lost their fear factor, the aura of invincibility and ultimately their continental crown, during his four years stay with the team.
The coach had the luxury of five days to work with the new team, a session he described as ‘useful’ as he was impressed with the players attitude ahead of the two legged encounters.
“We have been having useful sessions since we resumed on Monday. I am impressed with the discipline and sense of dedication of the players,” Madugu said
A win for Nigeria today will be first in their three last outings following
the team’s disappointing Olympics campaign where they lost all three group matches to Brazil, Spain, and Japan the last outings oversaw by Randy Waldrum .
The coach is focused on bouncing back strongly as it will help the team’s confidence and positive spirit after the Paris 2024 Olympics poor outing.
“We respect the Algerians just as we respect every team we play, but the truth is that we need to bounce back strongly from the below-par outing at the Olympics and restore our team’s confidence and positive spirit,” Justin Magudu explained.
Both Nigeria and Algeria will make the one hour journey from Lagos to Ikenne on Saturday morning and settle in quickly for the 3 pm kick time .
