Nigeria Football Federation president Ibrahim Gusau expressed optimism that the Super Falcons will advance to the quarterfinals of the 2024 Olympics Women’s Football Tournament, despite facing setbacks in their initial group stage matches against Brazil and Spain.
After the Super Falcons suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Spain in Nantes on Sunday, with Alexia Putellas scoring the winner in the 85th minute, NFF president Ibrahim Gusau expressed disappointment at the team’s inability to convert chances into goals. However, he remains hopeful that a victory against Japan in their final group match on Wednesday can still propel them out of the group.
He said, “It is not easy to play the world champions. You saw how the game went. We conceded a goal in the 85th minute; we created a lot of scoring chances. But I know the game is still on; we can still qualify for the next round if we can work harder than what happened today.
” Obviously, we are going to reach the next round of the tournament. The tournament is a very tight tournament; we have only two days as a recovery period for them to play the next match. The team’s inability to score goals is a very serious concern.
” As I said earlier, we got a lot of clear chances we could have converted to get the game done. I think the coaches know exactly what they need to do. By the grace of God, let’s see how it goes in the game against Japan.”
Randy Waldrum’s charges suffered the same margin of defeat to Brazil in their opening match on Thursday at Stade Matmut-Atlantique in Bordeaux, where Gabi Nunes’ 37th-minute goal separated both sides.
The Super Falcons, captained by Rasheedat Ajibade, face a must-win situation against Japan in their final group match on Wednesday at 16:00 at Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau in Nantes. But, they’ll have their work cut out for them, as Japan is riding high after a 2-1 upset win over Brazil on Sunday.
Nigeria’s hopes of advancing to the next stage now depend on Spain emerging victorious against Brazil in the group’s second match, which will take place simultaneously on Wednesday at Stade Matmut-Atlantique in Bordeaux.
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