At 8:30 a.m. on Monday, August 7, the Super Falcons of Nigeria will face one of their biggest tests in the ongoing 2023 Women’s World Cup against one of the best teams in the world, England in the round of 16.
England are the reigning champions of the Women’s European Championship and they have proven that they are set to reach the World Cup final this year after reaching the semi-finals twice in the past.
The Lionesses are so in form that they recorded three wins out of three in the group stage and their in-form Lauren James seems to be unstoppable in terms of scoring goals.
Now, the question is, can the Super Falcons of Nigeria stop England who have already scored 8 goals in three games in the 2023 Women’s World Cup?
Well, CityNews Nigeria has identified some players in the Super Falcons squad that must be on top of their game on Monday before the Nigerian team can stand a chance of knocking out the Lionesses.
1. Chiamaka Nnadozie
Chiamaka Nnadozie won the Women of the match in Nigeria’s 0-0 draw with Canada in the opening Group stage game at the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Chiamaka Nnadozie who became the youngest goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet at the World Cup in 2019 has been so helpful for the Super Falcons so far at the tournament.
If all her good saves at the tournament would be forgotten, one that cannot be forgotten was the penalty save the 22-year-old Paris FC goalkeeper made against Canada’s Christine Sinclair in the group stage. She must keep that same energy on Monday and probably do more to prevent England from scoring against the Super Falcons.
2. Osinachi Ohale
Osinachi Ohale has been in superb form so far at the 2023 Women’s World Cup as her role in Super Falcons’ defense has given the term two clean sheets in three games.
The 31-year-old Nigerian defender made 51 touches against the Republic of Ireland which was 100 fewer than the average of England’s three defenders – Jess Carter, Millie Bright, and Alex Greenwood – against China which the Lionesses beat 6-1 in their last group stage game. Ohale will be expected to remain as active as that and even do more to stop the 24-year-old Arsenal new signing Russo who is unpredictable when attacking.
3. Christy Ucheibe
Christy Ucheibe has been tagged as an all-action player due to how restless the 22-year-old Benfica midfielder has been in all three games she has played for the Super Falcons in the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Ucheibe, who participated in 16 more duels than any other player, has worked tirelessly most of the time from the halfway point within Nigeria’s half in all the three games she has featured in.
The charismatic Nigerian midfielder is one of just four Nigerian players to have found a teammate more than 20 times on the opposing team’s side of the field. Her 18 tackles are more than all of her colleagues put together.
Hence, on Monday, she is expected to combine with either 19-year-old Deborah Abiodun who is back from her two-game suspension, or Halimatu Ayinde who stood in for Abiodun during her suspension, to stop 21-year-old Chelsea forward Lauren James from breaking through the midfield.
If goalkeeper Nnadozie, center-defender Ohale, and midfielder Ucheibe are on top of their game with the full complement of their other teammates, England would have a very difficult game on Monday which is most likely going to stretch into a penalty shootout.
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