NIGERIA'S Super Falcons have been sent packing from the ongoing Fifa Women's World Cup after losing their third group game to the USA 0-1 last night at the BC Place Stadium in Vancouver.
In what was a disappointing outing for the highly rated Falcons who became African champions in style, they crashed out in the group phase, coming bottom of their group. Having drawn 3-3 with Sweden in their opening game and losing 0-2 to Australia in their second match, the Falcons ended up with just a point.
Although they were admittedly in the so-called group of death, expectations had been a lot higher as the bulk of this team were in the Super Falconets squad that got to the final of the U20 Women's World Cup two years ago. Nigeria' had one of the best forward lines in the tournament but the team appears to have suffered immeasurably from lapses at the back.
Last night, an Abby Wambach volley seconds before half-time earned the USA victory, which sent her team through as Group D winners. A well balanced first 45 minutes finally fell in the Americans’ favour when Wambach struck Megan Rapinoe’s corner home at the far post.
Earlier, Julie Johnston thought she gave the Stars and Stripes the lead, but her finish was ruled offside. Asisat Oshoala had the best chance for Nigeria 24 minutes in but Johnston executed a perfectly timed tackle to interrupt her shot.
In the second half, Rapinoe threatened Falcons' goalkeeper Precious Dede’s goal twice from long range and Alex Morgan nearly doubled the Americans’ lead just after the interval but was denied by good goalkeeping. Team USA kept pressing on in search of a goal to finish off the game but the Falcons held on.
Things became harder for Nigeria in the 69th minute, when Sarah Nodim picked up her second yellow card as a result of bringing down Sydney Leroux just outside the area. With their numerical advantage intact, the USA kept possession well, with smart, experienced play delighting a significant majority of the 52,193 crowd in the stadium.
Jill Ellis, the USA coach, said: "Nigeria gave us a good fight, as expected. They’re a dangerous team but I’m happy with the way we played both with and without the ball.
"We can attack with confidence if we have a good backline. It’s a shame we only scored one goal but we’re very happy to finish top of a difficult group."
Cameroon is now the sole African representative in the tournament with Ivory Coast and Nigeria now both eliminated. Having beaten Switzerland 2-1 last night, the Cameroonians came second in their group.
