Falcon loss, great blow to female soccer

Football stakeholders have described the Super Falcons 0-2 defeat to Australia as a great blow to the team’s chances of getting to the next stage of the ongoing FIFA Women World Cup.

The competition had been ongoing in Canada.

Some of the stakeholders who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday said the team performed below expectation.

Joy Etim, a former Falcons’ coach said that had expected the team to defeat Australia in the encounter but the reverse was the case. “It will take a miracle for the team to defeat the U. S., in their next match.

“Something is wrong, whatever that is, I hope they can figure it out against the U.S., the team lost focus and they must have learnt their lessons.

“Going by past records, the U.S., is one of the best teams in female football, but not the best; we can only hope for a miracle,” she stressed.

Tayo Balogun, a sports analyst said the technical crew had not done enough to fortify the defence, given the number of goals the Falcons had conceded.

Balogun also added that the team underestimated its Australian counterparts and paid dearly for it.

“We have conceded five goals in two matches that shows that something is wrong with our defence and they underestimated the Australian team.

“It will take a miracle to fix things against the U.S., the team is stronger than us in all ramifications, we don’t need to sugar-cot the truth,” he said.

Royals Olajide, the secretary of the Women Amateur Football Association, said that the result was disappointing for the country.

Olajide advised the technical crew to instil pitch discipline on the players in their next match, saying that the team’s next match would not be an easy encounter.

“There was no disciplinary play in the game and this is vital for a team to play as instructed by the coach. I can’t imagine a situation where Falcons played as a frustrated bunch. We receive balls and we can’t make good passes”.

Festus Allen, a former coach of 3SC of Ibadan, urged the players to put the defeat behind them and re-strategise against their next opponent.

“This defeat will dampen the morale of players but they should not allow it to discourage them from moving to the next round.

“Anything is possible in football and they can pull a surprise if they put their house in order and play as a team and not individuals,” he said.

The ongoing competition which began on June 6 will end on July 5 in Canada.