WOMEN’S WORLD CUP
Duro Ikhazuagbe
Nigeria’s Super Falcons Monday booked their place in the last 16 round of the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Brisbane, Australia with a goalless draw with the Republic of Ireland.
They finished as runners up on five points behind co-hosts Australia that hammered Canada 4-0 to top their Group B.
Canada finished on four points with Ireland fourth on just one point.
This is Falcons third time to reach the knockout phase of the tournament.
They did it first in 1999 in USA and at the 2019 edition in France.
Nigeria will now likely play European champions, England, who are likely to top Group D.
Even with nothing to play for, the Irish ladies gave Nigeria a scare, dominating the game all through the first half.
Falcons came strongly into the second half after the break but Nigeria’s Barcelona Femeni star, Asisat Oshoala, appeared off duty.
She wasted two clear chances with only Ireland goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan to beat.
Oshoala was not her lively self. Same as Uchenna Kanu, Toni Payne and Rasheedat Ajibade.
Payne was holding on to the ball for too long, with several inaccurate passes dominating the Nigerian game.
In the backline, Ashleigh Plumptre and Mitchell Alozie created too many moments of anxieties.
Speaking shortly after the match, Alozie said that they expected to play a very tough game with the Irish and are happy to have made it into the knockout phase from what what was termed ‘Group of Death’.
“Now that we have qualified for the knockout stage, we are as good as any of the 16 teams and we can make it to the final match,” observed Alozie, who is a cancer research assistant technician at the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.
