The Super Falcons of Nigeria, on Monday, crashed out in a bitter defeat to England in Brisbane, losing 4-2 on penalties.
The Nigerian Super Falcons have exited the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, Soccernet.ng reports.
Despite having the numerical advantage for almost forty minutes, the Super Falcons of Nigeria couldn’t make it count, as they lost 4-2 on penalties to England at the Brisbane Stadium in Australia.
The Falcons created more chances and had eleven shots on goal, five more than their opponents but lacked the end product, which would later prove costly, as they exited the tournament on Monday Morning.
Desire Oparanozie and Michelle Alozie’s penalty miss means England will proceed to the quarterfinal of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Soccernet.ng rates the performance of the Super Falcons in the game against the Lionesses.
Chiamaka Nnadozie 7.5/10: The captain, once again, commanded her area very well today, making vital saves, and even helping the team play out from the back, with accurately timed long passes. She claimed crosses when called upon and organized her defence very well, keeping England mute. She, however, couldn’t save a penalty, but in the total of a hundred twenty minutes, her performance was defiant and steady, like she was all through the tournament.
Michelle Alozie 5.5/10: The Houston Dash full-back shook Nigerians with her actions, after deciding to take her penalty kick with her weaker foot, and also skied the penalty into the stands. She won just one of her aerial duels but did much better with her ground duels. Had she scored the penalty, it could have been an entirely different result.
Blessing Demehin 6.5/10: The twenty-one-year-old put in yet, another strong performance for the Super Falcons, defending when called upon and keeping play tidy. She made a total of ten ball recoveries in the heart of the defence and was a rock at the back all tournament.
Osinachi Ohale 6.5/10: Paired with Demehin for the fourth game running, she showed the coordination she has with her partner in defence. They worked together to annul all of England’s effort in front of goal and did so superbly. She also completed a whooping fifteen passes into the final third.
Ashleigh Plumptre 8/10: Plumptre had arguably her best game in the tournament today. The left-back was totally unplayable today. She alternated perfectly between attack and defence, keeping Lucy Bronze quiet and adding width for the Nigerian forwards on the attack. She won all but one of her tackles and even hit the frame of the goal once in the first half.
Christy Ucheibe 7/10: Ucheibe’s ball recovery was a sight to behold. She recovered the ball thirteen times and was much more involved with the physical duels in the centre of the park. She didn’t offer much offensively, though.
Halimatu Ayinde 6/10: Just like her partner in the middle of the park, Ayinde’s job was mostly off the ball and winning the ball back. Getting ball recoveries and the physicality to nullify the technical and pacy forwards of the England team yielded dividends, as the team’s defence remained locked, but like Ucheibe, Ayinde didn’t do much attacking-wise.
Toni Payne 7/10: Toni Payne created seven chances before she was subbed off, six minutes before the end of extra time. She delivered her set-piece duties with precision and even helped out with making sure the team stay locked in at the back.
Rasheedat Ajibade 6.8/10: The winger scored Nigeria’s first penalty kick from the spot, and her work rate all through the game was quite commendable, but she was mostly isolated in attack and sometimes struggled to link up with the striker up-front.
Uchenna Kanu 6/10: Kanu didn’t offer much up front today. She did help Alozie in defending, but it was mostly that. She was taken off in the late minutes of the ninety. She did take a total of four shots, but not a single one was on target.
Ifeoma Onumonu 5.0/10: Ifeoma struggled to fit into the game and looked like she was playing the wrong role for most of the time she was on the pitch, she was substituted fifteen minutes into the second half for Asisat Oshoala.
Substitutes
Asisat Oshoala 5/10: Asisat came on and was expected to recreate her heroics against Australia, but instead she scuffed the three chances she got. She also didn’t provide a central figure up front to help lead the attack for the Super Falcons.
Francisca Ordega 5/10: Just like Oshoala, Ortega didn’t have much of an impact, but had a decent performance nonetheless, and completed all of the passes she attempted, in a little over thirty minutes she was on the pitch.
Egecheni Egecheni 5/10: Again, another substitution by Coach Randy Waldrum which didn’t yield dividends, as she couldn’t do much in the time that she was sent on.
Desire Oparanozie: The forward showed she still has it in the six minutes she played, considering she only just returned from an injury, but she took the first spot kick for Nigeria, and she sent it wide.
