Nigeria’s Super Falcons bow out of the ongoing FIFAWWC following a spirited performance from the girls which saw them lose 4-2 to England on penalties.
While the Super Falcons have been impressive at this World Cup, they went into that game against the reigning European champions as underdogs.
Randy Waldrum put out the same line-up as the win vs Australia with Oshoala on the bench once again for Nigeria. Sarina Wiegman stuck to her 3-5-2 formation which saw England demolish China PR with Keira Walsh returning from an injury scare to take her place in central midfield.
For the first time in this tournament, the Super Falcons started the game on the front foot with crisp passing and attacking play which saw Ashley Plumptre hit the woodwork in the 16th minute before forcing a save off Mary Earps moments later.
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Nigeria continued to grow in confidence, preventing England from settling on the ball to play their game.
Goalkeeper and captain, Chiamaka Nnadozie was called to action by England a couple of times and she was up to the task to make the saves as it ended goalless at halftime.
The second half began the same as the first with Nigeria hitting the woodwork through Uchenna Kanu’s header. Nandozie was once again then forced into a save from a powerful header from Rachel Daly.
Nigeria continued to threaten with the European champions rattled and unable to play. This was evident as Lauren James who caught a frustrated figure all game was given her marching orders for a stamp on Michelle Alozie five minutes from the end of the game.
From then on Nigeria pilled on the pressure but poor finishing meant the game ended 0-0 after extra time as the Super Falcons bow out of the FIFAWWC after a keenly contested encounter.
