Super Falcons of Nigeria have ended their journey at the 2024 Paris Olympics Women’s Football Tournament in the worst possible way.
The Super Falcons, who spent weeks preparing for the Paris Olympics in Sevilla, Spain, were expected to surpass their quarter-final mark, which they recorded in 2000, but the reverse was the case.
They lost their opening game at the 2024 Paris Olympics 1-0 to Brazil and recorded the same scoreline against reigning Women’s World Cup winners, Spain.
A win against Japan would have given the Super Falcons a chance to qualify for the quarter-finals of the 2024 Olympics. But they couldn’t secure at least a point against the pacy Japanese side.
The Japanese side opened the scoring at the Le Beaujouire Stadium in Nantes in the 22nd minute. Ten minutes later, Japan doubled their lead following a few minutes of a cooling break.
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In the 42nd minute, the Super Falcons sparked hope of a comeback when Jennifer Echegini reduced the deficit. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed when Japan restored their two-goal advantage in injury time.
In the 54th minute of injury time, Japan had the chance of making it 4-1 when the referee pointed to the spot for a penalty. But the VAR came to Nigeria’s rescue by cancelling the call.
In the 60th minute, coach Randy Waldrum decided to make a big call by bringing in Chinwendu Ihezuo for Bay FC striker, Asisat Oshoala. Yet, that didn’t change the outcome of the game.
The coach made more changes in the last 30 minutes of the encounter as he brought in Toni Payne for Chidinma Okeke, and Esther Okoronkwo for injured Deborah Abiodun.
All that was in futility as Japan took the day with a 3-1 victory, while the Super Falcons crashed out of the 2024 Olympics, sitting bottom of Group C with zero wins and zero points
