The Super Falcons indeed put behind their disappointing start to the 14th edition of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations and have began to settle down.
After that comfortable win against Botswana, a younger side pitched by Waldrum took us back memory lane as they scored 4 goals and could have been more against Burundi.
The quarter finals clash is against long time rivals Cameroon and it is just days ahead but here are 5 things I learnt from the 4-0 win against Burundi.
1.The future is now
Bulk of the players that were fielded in the Burundi game were very young players with a few making their debuts in the tournament.
The only old legs were Ohale Osinachi, Onome Ebi and Ngozi Okobi and the young ladies were absolutely interesting to watch. A few others like Edo Queens defender, Akudo Ogbonna made her debut replacing Ebi late on in the game.
The future is indeed now.
2. Nnadozie is the undisputed number 1
Unlike the Super Eagles, the Super Falcons have a goalkeeper they can rely on and trust in. She is Chiamaka Nnadozie. The 21 year old is the undisputed number 1 and she will be a year for years to come.
Already made her mark at 18 by being the youngest goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Paris FC player will be hot cake in Europe soon.
3. The attack can work without Oshoala and Oparanozie
The attack scored 4 without the usual names of Asisat Oshoala and Desire Oparanozie. Yes we can say it is just Burundi but if the coach sets the team up well, the girls have goals in them.
Kanu, Onumunu, Ajibade, Monday, Ikechukwu are all hungry to score goals.
4. Waldrum still looks lost
Randy Waldrum still looks like he is still studying the African terrain. He seems to still not understand how African football plays and works.
Yes, two wins, two clean sheets, I believe we could still achieve more with the talents we have in the squad.
5. It is war on Thursday
Thursday’s quarter finals clash against the Indomitable Lioness of Cameroon is going to be a war on the Moroccan grasses.
A semifinals spot, ticket to the FIFA Women’s World Cup,a long standing rivalry and the continent’s top 2 ranked countries going at it.
Waldrum seems to know this already as he rested a bunch of players in the Burundi game but he has to get his acts right on Thursday or Falcons’ fans and the media will indeed be negative.
Nigeria play Cameroon on Thursday, 6pm Nigerian time.
