Falconets Maul Liberia 9-1
From Chris Garba, Abuja
The Nigerian female under-20 national team, the Falconets, yesterday
at the National Stadium, Abuja, mauled their visiting Liberian
counterparts by 9-1 to pick one of the two African tickets for the
under-20 female World Cup fiesta billed for Russian later this year.
What looked like a thrilling encounter in the early minutes of the
match turned into a one-way traffic, as the Nigerian girls shot into
the lead in the 16th minute though
Cynthia Uwak and two minutes later, the visitors conceded an
own goal.
Rita Chikwelu increased the
tally to 3-0 for Nigeria in the 20th minute, just as
Cynthia Uwak put her name on
the score sheet in the 36th minute of the game.
Tawa Ishola spotting jersey
number 14 for Nigeria slotted home the fifth goal in the 40th minute
and at the dot of 44 minutes,
Titilayo Mekuleyi made it 6-0 to end the first-half at that.
Rita Chikwelu made it 7-0
just when the second-half resumed, and in fact the scores could have
been higher if not for the woodworks which thrice denied the
Nigerian girls that opportunity.
With a few changes made, the visitors came out of their shells, as
their attackers led by Christiana Myers, Benda Goi, and supported in
the midfield by Cherie Sayon and Monica Cooper, showed some good
flashes, but that was not enough to cause havoc in the Nigerian
defense.
As if angered by this new spirit of their visitors, the Falconets
charged forward once again with
Chizoma Oparaocha making it 8-0 in the 64th minute, but a
mix-up in their defence in the 80th minute saw the Liberian girls
pulling one goal back through their over-lapping defender, Barjoan
Barwu.
Akudo Iwuagwu made it 9-1
just as center referee, Lidya Tafesse Abebe, was checking her watch
for the last blast of the whistle.
Lucretius Togba at the post-match press conference, said that the
referee was one hundred per cent fair and admitted that his team
lost to a better side.
"I do hope and pray that Nigeria does Africa proud in Russia. Our
strength today, showed how our female league back home is growing.
We are just four months together as a team, but we hope to go back
home and prepare well for the African women play-offs," he said.
Coach Emmanuel Teteh of Nigeria on his own part, called for early
preparations, so that the team could do well in Russia, adding that
the draw in Monrovia had to do with the way teams change
tremendously in front of their home crowd. "We had to work on our
deficiency today and that is why we did so well," he said. |
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