26th August, 2014
When FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup kicked off on 5 August, 2014 in Canada, nobody gave Super Falconets of Nigeria any chance to reach the final of the competition. But they surmounted every hurdle to clinch the Silver ware after a titanic final clash with Germany early Monday morning. It took Germany 98 minutes to break the deadlock by scoring the winning goal through Lena Petermann.
Many soccer pundits in the country who watched the Falconets’ opening match against Mexico were not too convinced that the team would go far in the tournament. Some of them quickly wrote off the girls after playing 1-1 with Mexico in the group C opener. Nigeria lived up to expectations in their second game, defeated Korea Republic 2-1 and recorded the same scoreline against England to top the group and book a place in the quarter final stage.
It was when Falconets qualified for the quarter final stage that some football fans who had earlier condemned the team’s performance began to show interest in the girls and their coach. New Zealand, which reached their first quarter final in the history of the competition, suffered a 1-4 defeat to Falconets. Beating New Zealand in the quarter final boosted Falconet players’ morale and they went on to knock out Korea DPR 6-2 in the semi final game. Asisat Oshoala was a delight to watch as she scored four goals against Korea DPR in that game.
After the Falconets booked the final berth against Germany, Nigerians hoped that this was the chance the country had to avenge the 2-0 defeat they suffered in the hands of the Germans four years ago when both teams clashed in the final. Before the final, President Goodluck Jonathan charged the Falconets to go all out for victory and promised to give them presidential reception if they won. This presidential message spurred the girls to raise their game. Unfortunately they conceded the lone goal in the extra time and lost the trophy to Germany again.
Though the Falconets lost the final to Germany, they were not disgraced. These girls deserve all the accolades and reward for making Nigeria proud in Canada. They should be commended for their effort and be made to graduate to the senior national team. President Jonathan attested to this when he said in his message to the team after the final that the Falconets showed the world that with their innate skills, strength, resilience and determination, they can remain a great force in women’s football globally.