Nigeria's Falconets stumbled to a tough 3-1 loss to Germany in their matchday two Group D clash at the ongoing FIFA U20 Women's U20 World Cup in Colombia in the early hours of Thursday, Soccernet.ng reports.
Here are the five takeaways from the encounter.
Germany are Nigeria's biggest nemesis
It appears no matter how hard Nigeria try, the Falconets can never get the better of the Germans at the U20 World Cup.
Thursday's defeat is Nigeria's fourth in a row at the hands of Germany at this tournament, and the first time the Falconets will concede three goals against the European giants. No other team has beaten Nigeria more times.
This particular loss is hard to take as the West Africans had enough chances to carve out a positive result but Chris Danjuma's girls will rue those missed opportunities.
On a brighter note, Chiamaka Okuchukwu's second-half strike is the first goal Nigeria will score in the last four meetings with the Germans.
The Falconets are too wasteful to be genuine title contenders
Coach Danjuma has repeatedly boasted that his girls possessed the quality and character to win the U20 World Cup for the first time in the country's history.
And there is no denying that the Falconets have energy, togetherness, and determination in abundance.
What the Falconets, however, have in short supply is the ability to stick the ball into the net.
For all of Germany's early dominance, Nigeria should have been two goals up by the time the former champions netted the game's opener.
After falling behind, Nigeria still had clear chances to turn the match around before the halftime break. None was converted.
Even Okuchukwu's equaliser came from a mix-up in the German defence and not from any spectacular Nigerian team move.
The Falconets have to do better in front of goal to stand any chance of making it to the latter stages of this tournament.
The two fullbacks are the team's weakest links
Nigeria's right-back Jumoke Alani and her teammate on the opposite flank Oluchi Ohaegbulem did not cover themselves in glory in this encounter.
Alani was at fault for the first goal Nigeria conceded while Ohaegbulem should bear more of the blame for Germany's two second-half goals.
They were easy to dribble past, had trouble picking up German runners at the back post, and allowed crosses to fly into the Nigeria box freely.
Both fullbacks need to sit up and get their acts together or better alternatives should be brushed up to take their spots to avoid another disappointing defeat on matchday three.
Nigeria's Falconets were not terrible against Germany
Contrary to what the scoreline may portray, the Falconets were not terrible against the German girls.
In fact, the Falconets did a lot of things right: They stayed compact in the first half, fought well for the second balls, showed a willingness to run off the ball, and created numerous clear scoring chances.
Unfortunately, coach Danjuma and his girls did poorly in crucial areas.
The team, apart from battling with several momentary losses of concentration, suffered a significant drop in level shortly after working hard to equalise.
Goalkeeper Shukurat Bakare, while being prone to the odd error, did not make any save of note. The two centre-backs had difficulty dealing with crosses while the coach made no tactical move to neutralise Germany's biggest strength – attacking down the flanks.
The Falconets' overall strategy was lame: the team was not set up to beat Germany but rather to avoid losing to the girls in white.
Falconets' destiny is still in their hands
Thankfully, Nigeria can still qualify for the knockout rounds if the Falconets beat Venezuela on matchday three.
The Venezuelans lost their opening match 5-2 against Germany while Nigeria secured a slim 1-0 victory over the Korea Republic.
No matter the result of the clash between Venezuela and Korea Republic, a win for the Falconets on matchday three will take Nigeria's point tally to six which will certainly be enough to make it past the group stages.
Even though I believe the Falconets will beat Venezuela, they do NOT have to do so to get past the group stage. With three 3d-placed teams qualifying for the knockout phase, a draw (perhaps even a narrow loss) should suffice (particularly given results in the other groups). Nonetheless, I expect the Falconets to get past the Venezuelans and continue to improve as the tournament unravels.
PS: I have a gut feeling that the South Koreans will defeat Germany in their final group matchup.