In the absence of star players, Asisat Oshoala, Francisca Ordega, Vivian Ikechukwu, Chinwendu Ihezuo and Osinachi Ohale, the Super Falcons of Nigeria were beaten 2-0 by their Canadian counterpart in the first leg of double-header friendly games.
The double-header friendly, which is in preparation for the 2022 African Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON), saw Jessie Fleming open the scoring for Canada in the 50th minute.
Vanessa Gilles netted the second goal for the Olympic champions in the 72md minute of play at the BC Place Stadium in Vancouver.
In the action-filled game, the Olympic champions dominated the nine-time African champions with more cutting-edge opportunities.
In view of the development, the Canadian women’s national team has now secured two victories over the Falcons in their last five meetings.
Speaking after the game, Captain of the Canadian team, Christine Sinclair, said their 2-0 win over the Super Falcons was not a true reflection of the game.
A confident Sinclair said the encounter should have ended 7-0 or 8-0 in their favour.
“The Falcons are a great team and they surprised us a little bit in the first half by how athletic they were, but we should have won like 7-0 or 8-0,” adding that“But since we’ve played Nigeria last, they are a lot more organised and disciplined now.”
However, Falcons head coach, Randy Waldrum, said he retains ‘absolute’ confidence in his team despite their defeat.
Waldrum insisted that his side posted a quality display against their host which will help them prepare well for the forthcoming 2022 Women’s African Cup of Nations in Morocco.
Waldrum said “This is part of the process, to get to where a team like Canada or a top team in the world is at now you need games like this”.
“Canada didn’t just arrive here overnight either, so we get to understand that the result in a friendly against a team with top quality like this is not as important as the quality of play.
“Obviously, everyone wants to get a result when they step on the field. This will make us better, because we had to play some younger players.
“You mentioned Asisat, we didn’t have Vivian as well, we didn’t have Ihezuo who plays for us upfront and Ohale.
“So we can in one way justify that it wasn’t a full squad, but the good thing is that we try to teach our players that we play with what we have and it’s definitely going to prepare us for WAFCON.”
