The Super Falcons of Nigeria beat Australia in historic fashion but that win against the co-hosts only papers over the cracks.

Several hours have passed since Nigeria shocked the world by coming from behind to beat Australia 3-2 and the euphoria still has not died down.

The win against the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup co-hosts was a truly fine moment and solidifies the Super Falcons’ chances of qualifying out of Group B.

The heroines who pulled this off and their millions of well-wishers around the world deserve to revel in the moment but they must do so with caution for a number of reasons.

Nigeria played well, really well in fact but there is at least one reason why the result was such a surprise, and also why they were such massive underdogs pre-game against Australia.

And one win, however impressive, does not change all of that, the mountain of problems surrounding the team pre-tournament still exists and would most likely hinder their progression at the Mundial.

The Super Falcons still have a tactical problem
Nigeria finished both games at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup so far with 32% and 36% possession respectively.

And although possession stats do not tell the full story, it does well enough to paint the picture of the Super Falcons’ approach so far.

Waldrum’s side pretty much sat back and hoped to hit both of their oppositions on the counter, a tactic that worked much better against Australia than it did against Canada.

This is not a criticism of the approach, it was what the team needed to secure positive results from games where they ideally should have gotten nothing.

The point is, the counter-attacking approach might not work against every team and the Super Falcons have not necessarily been great at controlling games.

The next game against the Republic of Ireland will test Nigeria’s ability to create chances without counter-attacks as the Irish have also adopted similar tactics in both of their games so far.

So how will the Falcons play when they carry the full burden of creativity against another defensive-minded team? That is a question for Waldrum to answer.

Randy Waldrum’s Super Falcons wahala
Speaking of Waldrum, the American manager was mired in controversy just before the Mundial for his comments about the Nigeria Football Federation and their peculiar ways of football administration.

What followed was a nasty back-and-forth with Ademola Olajire, the NFF spokesperson who ironically spoke with reckless abandon on the matter.

That matter which brought disrepute and unwanted international attention to the senior women’s national team is still not done.

The great result against Australia might have been enough to shut up dissenting voices on social media but the circumstances that led to the brouhaha have not automatically disappeared.

There was still a standoff between the players and the federation as recently as two days prior to the kickoff of the World Cup over financial issues of course.

Report: NFF owes Super Falcons coach Randy Waldrum ₦64.4m
FOOTBALL

To simply ignore that situation as Nigerians because of one win and hope that it fixes itself is equivalent to going to bed with the roof on fire.

The Super Falcons are a collection of disgruntled players led by an unhappy head coach all of whom are self-motivating based on passion for the country and desire to achieve greatness at the highest level and nothing else.

Questions surrounding Randy Waldrum
The tournament in Australia and New Zealand was preceded by widespread criticism from Nigerian football stakeholders including fans and most especially the media, criticism that was well earned in all honestly.

The general consensus was that the team was underperforming under the American’s tutelage with the poor outing at the 2022 WAFCON in Morocco regarded as the final nail in his managerial coffin.


So it is not illogical to say that a win and a draw, however impressive, is not enough to completely whitewash Waldrum’s reputation in such a short period of time.

Human beings are fickle, football fans even more so which is why people have gone from asking for Waldrum to be sacked before the World Cup to now dubbing him the Messiah just two games in.

Of course, it is only fair that the results improve Waldrum’s reputation but it should not be enough to completely rebrand him so quickly.

Notwithstanding, Randy Waldrum and the Super Falcons have surpassed everyone’s expectations so far which is great, just do not forget why the expectations were so low in the first place.

Source: Pulse Sports Nigeria

https://www.pulsesports.ng/football/story/super-falcons-why-nigerias-historic-win-against-australia-changes-nothing-2023072820100153617

This white babe wey dey claim naija....i dey suspect her mama.....

.na adopt the papa adopt am ?? Or na him pour the spèrm gan gan?? .. i never see where black man nack woman....wey no single trace of black phenotype show for skin, hair, nose, etc......

advanceDNA:
This white babe wey dey claim naija....i dey suspect her mama.....

.na adopt the papa adopt am ?? Or na him pour the spèrm gan gan?? .. i never see where black man nacks woman....wey no single trace of black phenotype show for skin, hair, nose, etc......

You don't know how genetics work
Her grandfather is a full Nigerian who married a white brits
Her father is half Nigeria, known as hala f-caste who again married a white brits
Their union gave birth to her
She could have taken her mother's genes 100% while her younger sister to his father's gene

Legendguy:


You don't know how genetics work
Her grandfather is a full Nigerian who married a white brits
Her father is half Nigeria, known as hala f-caste who again married a white brits
Their union gave birth to her
She could have taken her mother's genes 100% while her younger sister to his father's gene

I did not know her father isnt full black... u saw that in my comment.....yet u want to sound condescending...the genetics u are claiming superiority on seff is laughable...