I have to walk back my pre-match comments of referring to these October friendly matches against Algeria as "low-grade" and "low-quality". Such a statement does disservice to the reputation of the opposition and shows lack of gratitude to those involved in putting the friendlies together.
So, I apologise to the NFF and the much respected Algerian national women's team.
As for the games, I felt it offered valuable exposure to fringe players of the Super Falcons, many of whom tried hard to impress with variable levels of success.
If we can defeat an up-and-coming passionate, highly motivated and supremely professional Algerian team by handsome margins with our 3rd string Super Falcons outfit, then it augurs well for the strength of our team and how far we can potentially go in the Women's Afcon next year.
That said, I still feel it is unforgivable not to have included a single dual nationality player in the squad. It sends the wrong message in my humble opinion and perhaps suggests dual nationality players will be after-thoughts under this new coach, which can come across as being disrespectful and unappreciative of thier passion to play for Nigeria.
In the second game particularly, after Algeria had had a feel of Madugu's Super Falcons, the North Africans were able to carve out credible scoring opportunities. They were bold, daring and gave the Super Falcons a run for their money.
I personally think the 4:1 score line flattered Nigeria to be honest. We were not neat and tidy up front with Gift Monday lacking conviction on occasions; Esther Oyenedize and a few other players were at times sloppy in midfield and the defense showed signs of being porous and communication did break down a bit, with experienced Demehin caught out on one occasion. We still appear a long way off to providing a veritable substitute to Nnadozie in goal.
Randy Waldrum once said about friendlies that it is good to face decent or average oppositions in order to try new players and produce feel good factors after victories. I'm truth, I thoroughly enjoyed the feel-good factor produced by the 2 wins and the chance to inject fresh legs and incorporate new ideas and approaches. But the outcomes against Algeria hide the brutal reality that the Super Falcons are still not technically grounded enough to truly make a dent on the global stage.
In Africa, I think our approach and standard will take us far. But on a global stage, it will not wash!
There were far too many rough edges identified in those games against Algeria for me to be fully convinced and buy into what Madugu is doing.
That said, and as a counter-argument to my own argument, many of those players only played together for the Super Falcons for the first time. So I guess I have to cut them some slack.
These Super Falcons "rough diamonds" should become smooth with repeat exposure to international football and mixing the truly precocious ones out of them with key members of the main squad in games to come.
All in all, well done to all concerned.
The friendly window wasn't wasted and we witnessed players who can step up to the main Super Falcons squad soon enough. The wins should enhance our status in Fifa rankings and boost the confidence of the players going into the next fixture.
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