WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Women’s World Cup sets up intriguing individual duels involving Nigeria’s Super Falcons
With just hours to the kick-off of the expanded Women’s World Cup, intriguing fixtures are already on the card and Nigeria features prominently.
Onome Ebi v Christine Sinclair in Nigeria v Canada
First to be noted is the opening Group B encounter of Nigeria and Canada. This is the encounter of record-makers at the tournament as 40-year old Nigerian captain, Onome Ebi, a central defender will be up against another 40-year old, Christine Sinclair, a striker!
Both are also the captains of their teams. The match comes up on Friday at Melbourne’s Rectangular Stadium.
It is amazing to think that greats of the women’s football such as Julie Dolan, April Heinrichs, Ann Kristin Aarones, Celia Sasic and Nadine Kessler retired in their 20s, and another two are set to ensure that, for the first time in the history of an 11-a-side FIFA competition, players in their 40s will compete against one another.
Ebi and Sinclair will, as captains, shake hands and engage in a pre-match coin toss, before the former begins marking the latter.
Can the ageless Nigerian stop the evergreen Canadian relieving Cristiano Ronaldo and Marta (at least temporarily) of a record and becoming the first player – male or female – to score in six editions of the global finals?
Another eye-catching fixture is in Nigeria’s match-day 2. The super Falcons will face co-hosts, Australia at the Brisbane Stadium One. This will be Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala versus Sam Kerr.
Sam Kerr v Asisat Oshoala in Australia v Nigeria
Australia’s Sam Kerr is astonishingly the only player to have finished top goalscorer in three different leagues on three different continents. Oshoala has astonishingly averaged a goal per game over four-and-a-half celestial seasons at Barcelona.
This is a must-watch, blink-and-you-will-miss-it shootout between two of the greatest markswomen this game has ever produced.
Despite wintry conditions in Blida, on the outskirts of the Algerian capital, Algiers, Nigeria’s U17 girls dug their feet into the ground on Friday night.
They achieved a scoreless draw that qualified them for this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals.
Holding on to a 4-0 first-leg advantage, the 2002 bronze medallists adopted a calm and collected pattern that easily soaked up the expected pressure from the hosts and then relied on fast breaks to try and pull the trigger on their opponents.
Although they created better chances on the night, the Flamingos failed to make dominance in possession pay, but swiftly collected the ticket to Morocco on a 4-0 aggregate win.
The difference over two legs of the final round was a remarkable display in the opening leg by the Flamingos, during which a brace by Queen Joseph and one each by Zainab Raji and substitute Aisha Animashaun ensured a 4-0 win.
The Flamingos will now be one of Africa’s five representatives (including hosts Morocco) at this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals taking place from 17th October – 5th November. The final competition will entertain 24 teams for the very first time.
Since the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup competition was launched in New Zealand in 2008, Nigeria have failed to make the finals only once – the 2018 tournament hosted by Uruguay.
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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Despite heavy first leg loss, Algeria hopeful of a turnaround in Nigeria’s Flamingos clash
The Algeria U17 women’s national team still hope for a possible turnaround in this Friday night clash with Nigeria’s Flamingos.
Algeria lost 4-0 in the first leg match in Ikenne last Saturday.
The Algerians completed their preparations on Thursday at the Sidi Moussa National Technical Centre, the eve of the return match against Nigeria.
The return match is scheduled for this Friday at 8 p.m. at the Mustapha Tchaker Stadium in Blida. Aggregate winners will pick a ticket to the FIFA U-17 Women’s 2025 World Cup.
According to sources in Algeria, all the players took part in the final session, during which coach Abdenour Mira finalised the tactical details for the make or mar encounter.
Despite the heavy defeat conceded in the first leg (4-0), the young Algerians approach this match with the desire to finish well and deliver an honourable performance against a formidable Nigerian team.
During the technical meeting held early in the afternoon at the FAF headquarters, in the presence of representatives of the two teams and the organisers, it was decided that Algeria will play in green, while Nigeria will wear white.
The match will be officiated by Cameroonian Aline Marie Noelle Guimbang, assisted by her compatriot Laurie Marcelle Tsafack Teikeu and Chadian Victorine Ngarassoum.
The fourth official will also be Cameroonian, Innoncentia Njang Ntangti.
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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Under possible cold weather in Blida, Nigeria’s Flamingos set to grab World Cup ticket
The weather is most likely to be cold, but Nigeria’s U17 girls, Flamingos, are set to continue a tradition of qualifying for every edition of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, which has had eight editions, out of which the Flamingos featured in seven.
Only Japan, with 100 per cent attendance, has featured in more competitions than Nigeria’s Flamingos.
They look poised to feature again after a 4-0 defeat of Algeria in the first leg of the final qualifying series.
Apart from their opponents, Algeria, they have the expected cold weather to battle with at the Stade Mustapha Tchaker in Blida (outside Algiers), on Friday night.
Friday’s encounter against their Algerian counterparts is the final leg of a final qualifying round fixture, with the Flamingos, bronze-medallists from the 2022 finals in India and quarterfinalists from the last edition in the Dominican Republic, holding on to a 4-0 first-leg advantage.
The Federation Algerienne de Football (FAF) has scheduled the match to kick off at 8 pm, at a time when the winds will begin to blow in stronger from the Mediterranean Sea.
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