African champions the Super Falcons will face their biggest test in a very long time when they take on world champions USA in a final game of the Summer Series early morning (2am Nigerian time) of Thursday in Austin, Texas.
The Falcons are ranked 38th in the FIFA Ranking, while the USA are No 1 in the world.
The teams have clashed thrice with the US winning all the games.
The Americans first thumped Nigeria 5-0 in 2003 and four years later beat their opponents 1-0.
The last meeting between the two teams was at the 2015 World Cup, where the US again edged past the Africans 1-0.
At the Summer Series, the Americans have won their first two matches, 1-0 against Portugal and 4-0 against Jamaica.
Nigeria, on the other hand, were upset 1-0 by the Reggae Queens of Jamaica, who are ranked 51st in the world, before they held Portugal to a thrilling 3-3 draw.
The Falcons will be buoyed by their comeback against the Portuguese.
“We kept pushing and pushing, this is something we can build on and make us better,” coach Randy Waldrum celebrated the Falcons fightback reports Scorenigeria.com.ng.
“It showed that we are a very good team who can fight and comeback.
“We’re always in the game till the last whistle.”
However, Waldrum is also the first to warn that the team’s defence must rise to the occasion if they were to contain world champions.
“We have to clean things defensively because if we don’t, we will be in some real trouble with the US,” he cautioned.
“We have to correct our lapses because the US team can expose you in so many different ways.” Vastly experienced Onome Ebi shored up the “disorganised” defence in the Portugal game, but the absence of Osinachi Ohale is still a sore point for the back four.
