Falconets fall to Germany for the umpteenth tournament
Nigeria’s nemesis at this gender and age grade level, Germany, struck again in the U-20 Women’s World Cup yesterday by running away with a ruthless 3:1 victory against their frustratingly wasteful preys in a match that saw Nigeria create and squander fabulous scoring opportunities.
I actually liked what I saw from Danjuma’s Falconets in the game; truly.
They had a game-plan and stuck to it to slice open the German defence, leading to the German coach taking urgent action in the beginning of the second half with rushed substitutions to address Danjuma’s pragmatic threat.
The plot drawn up by Danjuma saw them dropping deep to lure the Germans higher up the pitch; whereupon quick Nigerian transition would see them utilising their blistering pace in rapid-fire counter attacking manoeuvres to run at goal and stab their opponents in the heart of the net – and it almost worked, several times actually for Danjuma.
But there can be no denying it; the Germans were the technically superior side. They created pockets of space in Nigeria’s midfield competently; they spread the ball to the flanks ruthlessly (particularly our left full-back area); and they whipped in dangerous crosses compellingly where their perfect positional orientation and aerial prowess inside our 18 yard box dwarfed that of our own defenders who looked lost and overwhelmed severally.
The Germans would hem-in our midfielders and strkers like a pack of wolves, forcing us to rush our pass and lose our momentum.
Playing their regular 4-2-3-1 formation, it wasn’t all bad for Danjuma’s ladies though.
Our wingers used their burning pace to latch on to deliciously delivered through passes and run clean on goal.
Though battered and bruised by German onslaught and relentless pressure, the Falconets never stopped battling hard to hold their fort; they fought admirably to disrupt German rhythm with tackles, interceptions, markings and clearances.
Their willingness not to just roll down and die and not to give up the ghost were greatly appreciated by me, something I applauded time and again.
Something that shows that they can potentially go far in this tournament should Danjuma act quickly to rectify deficiencies in certain departments with the players exhibiting greater attention to detail on and off the ball.
Ultimately though, Danjuma’s girls were second best in most areas which rightly reflected in the emphatic 3:1 win for Germany. Germany were tactically astute with vision, creativity, dynamism and excitement baked into their play while Nigeria played a more formulaic, direct, athletic, physical, practical and mundane style.
Nigeria’s run-of-the-mill brand of football was not that visually appealing but could have been more profitable with better decision making and greater clarity of intention and ideas by the players.
Better communication among them upfront and even at the back would have been beneficial. Having strikers who are able to hold their nerves and do the deed in front of goal and full-backs able to prevent crosses will serve Danjuma’s girls well in future.
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