Having finished third in Group C of the ongoing Cyprus International Women’s Cup, the Super Falcons of Nigeria will now face Thailand in a seventh place classification match at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Lanarca today.
Tournament Recap
Nigeria Vs Austria
The Falcons suffered a huge loss in their debut match at the tournament to Austria 4-1.
The first half of the encounter ended goalless, with both sides attempting to control the flow of the game into the restart.
Nina Burger opened scoring for the Austrian team in the 48th minute, and in the 59th minute Nicole Billa doubled Austria’s lead.
Nigeria pulled back a goal, via Asisat Oshoala in the 65th minute, but Laura Feiersinger restored Austria’s two goal lead in the 72nd minute. Jennifer Klein’s goal in the 84th minute solidified Austria’s lead over Nigeria, ending the game 4-1.
Nigeria Vs Slovakia
After their loss to Austria, the Falcons put up a thrilling performance and defeated Slovakia 4-3 in their second Group C game.
Rita Chikwelu scored two goals for Nigeria, in the 7th and 38th minutes respectively. Osinachi Ohale also got on the score board in the 28th, giving Nigeria a three goal lead into the second half.
Jana Vojetekova scored Slovakia’s first goal in the 67th minute to reduce the goal deficit to 3-1.
In the 72nd and 76th minutes, Slovakia won two penalties which Lucia Harsanyova converted superbly to level the scores.
In the 82nd minute, however, Anam Imo, scored Nigeria’s fourth goal to restore the team’s lead into extra time.
Slovakia won another penalty in the 7th minute of the 9-minute long extra time, however, Lucia failed to score, giving the Falcons their first win go the tournament.
Nigeria Vs Belgium
On matchday 3 of 3, the Super Falcons lost their final game of the tournament, 1-0 to Belgium.
The only goal of the encounter was by striker, Elena Dhont, in the 6th minute.
The Thomas Dennerby led side tried to level the scores, however, the Belgian team was resolute until the final whistle.
Nigeria finished third from Group C of the tournament, with 3 points from three games, and will now face Thailand, who also finished third in Group B with three points.
The match will take place today by 2:00pm (WAT), at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Lanarca.
Featured image source: Naija News