The Super Falcons of Nigeria rounded off their campaign at the China Four-Nation Invitational Tournament with an assertive 4-1 victory over Romania in Wuhua on Sunday. Their win placed the Falcons in third place at the close of the invitational.
Impressively, this was the first time in two decades that the nine-time African champions would record a win against a European opponent.
After the big loss to China in their first match, the Falcons quickly improved on their tactics into their game against Romania.
Nigeria took the lead one minute into half time via a clean move from Chiwendu Ihezuo. However, after the restart, the Europeans rallied back into the game and equalized in the 55th minute.
The Falcons who clearly were bent on a win at all cost mounted more pressure on the Romanian women’s national team, and in the 63rd minute, skipper, Onome Ebi, restored Nigeria’s lead.
In another five minutes, Nigeria had a 2-goal advantage over the Europeans, thanks to Rita Chikwelu’s brilliant effort.
Hove Albion forward, Ini Abasi Umotong, extended Nigeria’s lead again in the 83rd minute, to seal the win for the Falcons.
In the final, the Steel Roses of China defeated South Korea 1-0.
The Thomas Dennerby ladies will travel to Cyprus for their next tune-up series, where they will meet Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungry, Italy, North Korea, Mexico, Slovakia, South Africa and Thailand, in the Cyprus Women’s Cup which will hold from February 25 to March 7.
Featured image source: pulse.ng