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| The Super Falcons of Nigeria. |
In their opening
game at the FIFA
Women’s World Cup at the Winnipeg Stadium, Winnipeg,
Canada, goals from Asisat Oshoala, Ngozi Okobi and Francisca Ordega were all Nigeria’s
Female National Team, the Super Falcons, needed to fight back having gone down by two
goals in the first half.
The
Super Falcons came into the game full of hope
but were soon down in the 21st minute after Desire Oparanozie put the ball into her own net when Emma
Berglund’s header ricocheted off her and into the net following a corner kick
that left the Nigerians jittery.
A few
minutes later, Nilla Fischer
tapped into an open net from another corner kick owing to poor clearance by the
African champions’ back line as veteran goalkeeper Precious Dede fluffed her
clearance.
Nigerian had not lost in 10 matches coming
into the encounter.
While
youngster Oshoala
saw an attempt go just wide of goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl's
goal and Oparanozie could not deliver a pin point cross into the box.
The
Nigerians went into half time facing an uphill task and a battle to regain
their per-match confidence.
On
resumption of the second half, Nigeria got two quick goals to draw level.
First
it was Okobi’s cool finish in
the 50th minute that geared her team back to life. She received an Oparanozie
pass from the right and shot under Lindahl to give some momentum to the
Nigerians.
Three
minutes later before the Swedes knew what hit them, Oshoala levelled up with a fine individual effort after a
well-played long ball from Onome Ebi.
The Liverpool ladies striker raced
past experienced defender Fischer and Lindahl to get the Africans back into the
game.
Just as
the Nigerians were still celebrating and had taken their eyes off the ball, Linda Sembrant handed the lead back to
Sweden after good build-up play on the left side resulted in Lina Nilsson’s
cross that the substitute managed to direct past Dede with her thigh in
the 60th minute.
However
it was the Nigerians that would laugh last as Ordega salvaged a point for the Super Falcons three minutes
from time with a shot that slipped through the legs of Lindahl, leaving matters
level at 3-3.
Ngozi
Okobi was named player of the match and Nigeria would, next, face Australia while
Sweden will meet tournament favourites, USA.
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