Nigeria get a goal. Own goal by Korea as Oparanozie lurks....God is working miracles for us.

Goalllllllllllllllllllllllllll

Another NIgerian attack. We are waking up, Ordega almost could have amde a cross into the box. We will do well if we keep attacking.

Referee blows against Oshoala again. She will chop yellow soon. The ref is fed up and Oshoala is hungry.

32 passes by Nigeria, almost 150 passes by Korea. Possession 32% to us. We are back peddaling most times. Asisat always arguing with the referee. Same referee who reffed champions league final. They both have an history.

Okobi with her first Okobiesque pass but the attack breaks down as Ebere tries too much.

Uchendu with a wild shot off target. Defensively, Korea isnt great, but when you dont attack them, you can never trouble them. Another Korea attack ends wild. Nnadozie has it covered though. I am really impressed with her so far.

20 minutes gone, we are still yet to concede, so happy days. However, Korea looking more likely to score.

KevinDein:

He is. Typical Scandinavian tactics and very "unNigerian". TBH hiring that man was a grave mistake by the NFF.

Shades of Lars Lagerbäck. Kill all attacking instincts and hope for one lucky goal. Koreans cant believe their luck. We're sitting so deep.

Nnadozie with good save. This young goalie is confident. Much better than Oluehi.

The defenders are trying to send Oshoala on her way with long balls, but so far they are overhitting it.

KevinDein:
This coach hasn't improved the team. In fact I'll argue the team has regressed. Very cowardly tactics; cede possession to the opponent, employ a mid block, win the ball and hit them on the counter. Seems the girls have too much information to digest hence their ponderous, nervy play. Can't string 3 passes.

Very annoying to watch, but after conceding 3 goals in 1st half against Norway, I cant blame him. Lets finish 1st half without conceding and hope to play in 2nd half.

Very un Nigerian style of play. All 11 players behind the ball, so defensive that even the attackers are afraid to attack. Is Dennerby too cautious in making us stay in the match?

Korea are not great in connecting attacking 3rd. So we are not troubled for now. Korea almost totally in control. Very passive play from Nigeria.

Korea have found their feet and are bossing possession. No outlet upfront with Oparanozie offering nothing exciting so far.

Corner to Korea. Zonal marking from Nigeria. We didnt concede! Glory.

Young Okeke a bit jittery but recovers well so far. So far, so balance. No unnecessary mistakes yet.

Oparanozie with a wayward pass that could have put Oshoala through on goal. You dont mess chances like that up early on. It can hurt your team.

KevinDein:

Ajibade would definitely come in later in the game...at least I wish. Her pace would be of bigger concern when the Koreans are tired. Hopefully we are still in the game by then.

I agree with you. I hope we can stay in the game for a long time, if not winning, but with a 0-0 game, we will hurt the Koreans. However, it is exciting for Nigeria that we have 2 18 year olds starting a world cup match.
We have a big big chance for a win here.

Really happy the coach is dropping players who underperform. Happy to see the back of Oluehi. She really is 3rd choice, and could have saved at least 2 goals on day 1.

A big concern is Uchendu starting. She is not up to the level of players like Ajibade. It seems the assistant coach favouritism is telling here.

Today we go again. If we win, with 3 or more goals, then we are almost guaranteed to qualify for next stage. If we lose, we are out.

Whichever way it goes, I still support this team. If we crash out, the team should be handed to Dedevbo.

BascoVanVeli:



The goalkeeper was impeded by a Canadian player and there wasn't even a VAR check.

Bro forget VAR for any African team. Women football is really racist and they arent ashamed of it. I feel angry that these African teams just never complain.

Just like Nigeria, Cameroon concede first goal from a set piece.
They take set pieces swear for African teams male and female. Cameroon was on top up till now, now they have an uphill task.

BascoVanVeli:
Clear pen overlooked by the ref

Very annoying how same penalty decision was made on Saturday against South Africa.

Schemerkhiz:


Talking about Faith Ikidi Michael not better than Ogebe ...do they play in the same position??
ikidi was doing fine but Tochukwu Oluehi miscalculation let to ikidi injury, she was hit twice by our Goalie who was just rushing anyhow.

Tochukwu was not in the game at all. She was just happy to be in France. We will do much better against Korea. Every single one of those players looked disappointed.

As for those now coming out to call for Nigerian coaches, I think it is misquided at this point. We do not need a Nigerian coach which NFF will look down on. With Nigerian coach, we couldnt get a friendly against Benin republic if we tried. The girls went a whole year without kicking the ball in 2017.

Dennerby will steady the ship at least for next few years before we hand over to a Nigerian. Right now, our football is in a mess and we have to admit it. Football is not about entertaining football once in a while. It is about having a structure of good succession. Dennerby is doing that, and it will not be good to throw it away so soon.
Okeke is 18 years. She will most likely play the next 2 games as a starter. Ajibade, Imo are other future players on bench. Onome should please retire after this world cup to allow others take her place. Same as Chikwelu, Nwabuoku and others. We are in transition and need a calm head in charge.

BascoVanVeli:



I am not a fan of all Nigerian coaches. There are a few that I like and a lot who are trash like the one that handled the last U20.

Oluehi should have not been in goal. Nnadozie saves the first 2 goals I am sure of it. There is no way that Oluehi was better in training with the way I saw her moving yesterday. The man is doing selection based on bias. These players are not the best players. Faith Michael is not better than Egebe and why bring a winger in Uchendu to play the midfield when u have Nwakuoku and Okoronkwo on the bench?


Don't let the defenders mistakes take u away from the fact that our midfield was a disgrace yesterday. I have complained of the midfield so much I dey lose weight. Midfielders should be able to pass the ball or at least deliver long balls. These girls did nothing but give the ball away and it starts with playing Ayinde at a position that she has never played well in. Chikwelu was our best midfielder and that should tell u a lot about how poor Okobi and Ayinde were.

You are right about the goalie. I think Dennerby is being too cautious in his choices. Uchendu was the worst of the substitutes yesterday, and I wont put it past the Nigerian assistant coach for her inclusion...

Moving forward, it is obvious the team needs fresh ideas, and there are plenty positives. The team played well when defensive balance improved. We all saw how Okeke made brilliant defensive interceptions and advanced our play. I think we are still on course for qualification, as hard as it looks. We will beat the Koreans, and I seriously believe if the team takes the pain of defeat well, we will get results against France.
Our general play was GOOD. The mistakes cost us the game.

BascoVanVeli:
We have just wasted another world cup. We all saw this coming but we wouldn't admit it. I honestly want to curse the day Thomas Dennerby was given the job but I don't want to insult anybody's birthday. Rivers Angels won't lose 3-0 to Norway because Okon is a better coach than that fraud named Dennerby will ever be. The clown needs to be sacked so we can move on.

Oh common man! Norway will wallop Rivers angel. This is not much the coach's fault as it is the players. I just listened to the post match interview, and he said he specifically trained the team about Norway's short corners yesterday and they've been working on it for a long time. We have to admit we have unintelligent players. He said he instructed them to have 2 players out when they take short corners, but one of the players forgot. You cannot coach that into someone's blood. Anyone following us would have predicted that first goal because we simply suck at set pieces. The moment they had that corner, I said 1-0, because I know the type of players we have. Even super eagles cannot defend set pieces.

It is really unfair to blame Dennerby. His game is centred around organisation and if you have thick skulls, you cannot organise. Any Nigerian coach would have lost like 6-1 today because we will be pushing for goals while exposing the back. Also, Dennerby has influenced foreign moves for a lot of our players. The next match will be much better and even if we leave the world cup early, I hope Dennerby stays to really work on the team....provided NFF dont bin them .

Dedetwo:


Bros I had always said that the major problem of Nigeria is stream of thought or lack thereof. In addition, the selection process is flawed and certain players have overstayed their welcome in the falcons.

You might be right. Okeke performed wonders when she came on. She's not as established as Faith Ikidi, but she did better for the team. I think a much younger defender could replace Onome as well.

Full time. We lose, but a lot of positives. I still believe we should have had a penalty when Okobi was taken out in the box.
We were not coordinated in attack today. We failed to use Ordega's brilliance and Oshoala's attitude in the match actually stinks. She dropped her head too early.
The ref contributed to us loosing coordination in the 1st half. Any game where ref gives a needless yellow card within 15 minutes sends a message. We started to opt out of tackles, and the Norwageans just had a free run in.

Positive we will beat Korea. They wont be able to score set pieces.
Doubt we will make it to round of 16. Overall, sad to lose Faith Ikidi Micheal, but really happy that Okeke shows that we didnt really need to play Faith.

BascoVanVeli:
We need to go with 3 at the back and bring Kanu in for Oparanozie.

But we're playing 3 at the back.

Damn I hate this cult like officiating in women football. A clear penalty that even FIFA shamelessly showed on replay. Our mumu NFF president just sat there like a statue.
Our girls have been super but minor mistakes cost us. Oparanozie got a yellow card for something Norwagean players have done more than once without the ref calling a foul.

2 CLEAR penalties not given to Nigeria. VAR is run by an European.