July 10, (THEWILL) – When Africa’s must successful female national team, the Super Falcons of Nigeria were once again drawn against arch-rivals South Africa’s Banyana Banyana at the TotalEnergies 2022 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations currently underway in Morocco, fireworks were expected to go off at the clash of two of the most exciting teams on the continent. Yet, more than beautiful football, the old themes of rivalry, continental dominance and bragging rights were on the line. More than those, however, was a quest for vengeance on both sides.
In their most recent competitive encounter in September last year at the maiden edition of the Aisha Buhari Invitational Cup, organised by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to celebrate the girl-child and encourage more girls to take to football, South Africa upset their Nigerian hosts in the final game of the competition as the Super Falcons fell to a disappointing 4-2 defeat at the hands of the increasingly impressive ladies from South Africa, who lifted the maiden trophy at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena in Lagos.
The ladies from the Rainbow Nation had sounded a note of warning of their rising superiority on the continent to the entire set of invited countries when they soundly beat the Black Queens of Ghana 3-0 in their first game in the competition, while Nigeria was struggling to get a 2-0 win over Mali. Goals from Linda Motlhalo, Gabrielle Salgado, Mamello Makhabane and Michelle Alozie’s early own goal ensured Desiree Ellis’ side outscored the African champions despite a maiden brace from Vivian Ikechukwu.
However, just as the Super Falcons were attempting to get one back against the South Africans, Banyana Banyana were targeting to steal the shine off Nigeria in the most prestigious tournament on the continent, the Cup of Nations. The Super Falcons have the distinguished record of winning nine of the 11 continental tournaments since inception and are defending champions of AWCON. In the last competition played in 2018, which Ghana hosted from November 17 to December 1 and which featured eight teams, Nigeria picked up her 9th overall AWCON title by defeating South Africa via penalty shootouts as the final tie ended goalless after extra time. It coincidentally featured Nigeria and South Africa in the group stage and Nigeria lost that initial tie before going on to win their remaining matches all the way to lifting their 9th trophy after the victory via penalties.
It was a victory that once again denied the South Africans their first ever continental title. So far, the Banyana Banyana have been the most unfortunate in their quest for an African trophy. They have reached the final of the competition no less than five times but have left without success every time. Three of these finals, in 1995, 2000, 2018, the South Africans met Nigeria and lost to the Super Falcons. In 2008 and again in 2012, they clashed against Equatorial Guinea in the final and also lost. The best result they have taken from their 10-time participation in the African football showpiece is two third place finishes in both 2006 and 2010.
The women from the Rainbow Nation have also finished in fourth place thrice on 2002, 2014 and 2016. According to their coach, Desiree Ellis, this is a sequence they are determined to change and the South African Football Association has backed that desire up with monetary incentives to spur them to a victorious run. Last month, Danny Joordan, the SAFA President, revealed that each member of the squad will go home with R400,000 (about N10 million) if they win the trophy.
South Africa’s preparations for the competition may not have been as stellar as they could have hoped for. In setting up their team formation, strategy, tactics and squad for the 2022 AWCON, the Ellis-led Banyana Banyana engaged in a friendly against top international female side the Netherlands and were roundly beaten 5-1 by the rampaging Dutch ladies.
Nigeria did the same in their friendlies against Canada, as they participated in the NAmerican country’s Women’s National Team Celebration Tour to celebrate the Canadian Ladies Olympic gold medal victory at the Tokyo Games in Japan. It was a high-calibre, double-header friendly with which the Super Falcons lost 2-0 in the first tie, but the Nigerian team dominated the second leg and only a late Shelina Zardowsky equaliser denied the Nigerians a memorable win over the sixth best team in the world and reigning Olympic champions in the 2-2 finish.
This set the stage for their encounter at AWCON building up feverish excitement for fans of the ladies game only for the Super Falcons to play one of their worst ever performances in recent memory and lose to a more disciplined, tactical and superior South African side 2-1.
The scoreline did not exactly portray the true story of the game because were Banyana Banyana more clinical, the goal difference could have been much more embarrassing. Quickfire goals from Jermaine Seoposenwe and Hilda Magaia in the 60th and 62nd minutes gave South Africa a 2-0 advantage. But, late in the ensuing extra minute of the second half, Rasheedat Ajibade halved the deficit as the Nigerians made some half-spirited efforts to level the scores albeit unsuccessfully.
What stood out was that, unlike continentally successful Nigeria’s womens’ teams in the past managed by ex-Super Falcons’ players like Ngozi Eucharia Uche and Florence Omagbemi, the game plan of the Randy Waldrum-led Super Falcons appeared to be long balls in for Asisat Oshoala to run at and find the goals the Nigerian team needed but this was well-read by their opponents and the Falcons were never able to get beyond the coordinated and stiffened defence of Banyanya Banyanya. Ellis’s ladies showed that they were undoubtedly well-prepared to hem Oshoala in and it did not help that she got a knock early in the game. While most reactions post-match appeared to heap most of the blame for the loss on the Barcelona forward, the technical bench ought to have seen her struggle and observed how well Banyana Banyana was keeping the Nigerians at bay for a necessary changes of strategy with early substitutions to bring in a runner like Rita Chikwelu to operate as a linkup between midfield and forward, and bring in Ifeoma Onumonu for the struggling Oshoala.
The poor tactics of the Waldrum bench put the team’s title defense in peril. They lacked of a proper midfield coordinating movement from defense to attack and the substitutions to change the poor display came late. Ahead of the Thursday second group game against Botswana, the team was hit with the unfortunate story of another Oshoala injury. According to tests, the player, who was left to continue playing after a seventh minute knock until she was substituted in the 82nd minute had sustained a Grade 2 Medial Collateral Ligament Strain, which was going to keep her on the sidelines for nothing less than six weeks. Her AWCON was effectively over. In her absence, Waldrum turned to Onumonu for the central striker position in the game against Botswana. The latter had beaten the other team in the group, Burundi, 4-2 in their opening game and was expecting to scalp Nigeria and follow South Africa to the next round but an improved overall display by the Super Falcons saw the Nigerians prevail 2-0 and keep up with group leaders Banyana Banyana at this stage of the competition.
Aside from Oshoala, Ashleigh Plumptre, and Tochukwu Oluehi, who participated in the opening match against South Africa, were absent from the team. Waldrum changed his starting lineup for the match against the Botswana Mares, with Francisca Ordega and Ajibade cutting in from the flanks. Unlike the long-ball strategy against Banyana Banyana, the flanking tactic allowed the Falcons a strong start to the game. They kept up the pressure, and the Botswana team conceded in the 21st minute from Onumonu’s goal, after she latched onto a defence-splitting pass from Halimatu Ayinde.
Knowing maximum points were crucial to their chances of moving on to the quarterfinals, the Falcons maintained their dominance to finish the first half with a narrow 1-0 advantage. Waldrum made early substitutions this time too and, just after replacing Chikwelu, at the start of the second period, Christy Ucheibe quickly extended the Falcons’ advantage with an incredible header to make the score 2-nil. To avoid slipping up like they did against South Africa, the Super Falcons kept control of the game until the final whistle.
The result increased their chance of making it beyond the group stage with a crucial game against Burundi up next on Sunday. There were some shaky moments in defense against the Mares of Botswana as there were against the more superior Banyana Banyana. The difference was that South Africa took full advantage of every chance and punished Nigeria for it while Botswana could not. Their nippy attacker Refilwe Tholakele occasionally proved a handful for the ladies from Nigeria and also tested the Super Falcons from set pieces. She had two good strikes on target but each one was effectively handled by the Nigeria goalkeeper Cynthia Nnadozie, who has remained a reliably consistent performer between the sticks. The chance for a 10th title will, at the very least, depend on the Super Falcons improving on clinical finishing, erasing complacency, firming the defense and a technical bench that can change the tactical game plan right when it needs changes during a game to get results.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
