No Nigerian expected Super Falcons to bring the FIFA Women World Cup home but they expected to see an improved team that would hold their own against the best in the world. These expectations were not met. There was no remarkable improvement in the team's performance and it still appeared inferior to the known female football 'superpowers'.

Many factors contributed to the Super Falcons' failure to meet the expectations.

1. FOREIGN COACH'S CAPACITY
The 50% of failure of the team is attributable to the foreign coach, Mr. Thomas Dennerby's technical capacity and match-day tactics. The coach failed to show that he has the requisite technical versatility to coach a typical African women team. He could not galvanize the players into a more formidable team to face the world outside Africa. From African Women Cup of Nations through Ecowas Women's Cup to Fifa Women World Cup, the team has not shown any remarkable improvement under Coach Dennerby.
* Recommendation: Coach Thomas Dennerby should resign immediately or be sacked.

2. PLAYERS' TECHNICAL NAIVETY
10% of the failure came from players' technical naivety, arising from the fact that these female players were not technically-groomed products of any organized academy but 'fighters' who trained with boys in local street 'football clubs'. Since a foreign coach is supposed to come with technical knowledge and experience superior to our ex-players-turned coaches who are also products of the same street academies, Coach Dennerby was supposed to tune up the players technically. There is no significant signs he did this.
* Recommendation: Nigeria Footbal Federation (NFF) should search for a coach who has the requisite technical capacity to make Super Falcons stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Germany, Brazil, Norway, France, etc.

3. LACK OF TEAM COHESION
20% of the failure arose from 'symptoms' of not training together often or playing friendlies. The team lacked tactical cohension to defend, move ball around and attack purposefully as a unit. Unfortunately, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has consistently failed to pay deserved attention to female football. Unlike Super Eagles, nothing is usually heard of Super Falcons until the next tournament becomes due. No effort is made to take advantage of FIFA International match windows to organize friendlies for Falcons to train together, play competitively against good opponents and bond more technically. In addition, at the present there is no proper women's football league even on regional conference basis, which does not help the already bad situation.
* Recommendation: NFF should reposition women football. It should organize as many friendlies as possible for Super Falcons to help the coach do his job better. It should also explore the possibility of making the First Lady Aisha Buhari their 'Mummy' as well as getting her 'high level' support for women football league.

4. LACK OF TEAM BACKBONE
15% of the failure came from lack of 'backbone' structure in the team, which Coach Dennerby through his technical experience was supposed to put in place and perfected using friendly matches. For example, the coach could have identified about five players drawn from defence, midfield and attack and use them as backbone of the team around whom to build the team and give it a robust flexible shape by harnessing their strengths to lift the team above its overall technical limitations. It is this shape that is twisted tactically on-field to respond to opponent's tactics. For example, you could easily see the individual talents of steely Onome Ebi, fluidity of Ordega, trickery of Oshoala, etc but there is no connection of these dots to form a flexible diagram.
* Recommendation: Any new coach to be hired MUST show familiarity with players of Super Falcons and show clearly, plans to improve them as players and as a team.

5. PLAYER ATTITUDE
5% of the failure could be attributed to poor player attitude, which may have emanated from off-field interactions. For example, Asisat Oshoala's lacklustre display may be a symptom of something that happened off-field.
* Recommendation: Given that women are largely emotional beings, there is little that can be done here except to employ certified counsellors to resolve interpersonal frictions and other personal problems that may drain affected player's mental strength and distract her concentration on the field.