Super Falcon Coach, Dennerby, Seeks Revenge against South Africa
Super Falcons Coach, Thomas Dennerby, is already looking beyond the final match of the 2018 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) against the Bayana Bayana of South Africa as he expresses optimism that his wards are in good shape to handle three solid opponent.
Moments after it was confirmed that Nigeria will go head long against the same opponent that had beaten them in the tournament, the coach expressed satisfaction that he hopes to get his revenge this Saturday in the final match.
The Swedish tactician was on his feet for most of the semi final against the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon in Accra on Tuesday, which exhausted the statutory regulation and extra time and then went into penalty shoot –out before the Cup holders inched past their bitter rivals into the final and a place in France.
“This is a dream final but when we arrived in Ghana, we made it clear our first target was the ticket to the World Cup, and after that, retaining the trophy. Now, we have achieved our first target. On Saturday, we have the opportunity of achieving our second target. We will go in there and give it our best shot and take the trophy back to Nigeria.
“Sincerely, I was not happy with our performance in the first 20 minutes of the match. We lost the ball too many times; we were too anxious and the defenders and midfielders couldn’t contribute to the attack. However, the positive from this tournament is our defence is very good. We have a compact team and that is why we made it today. Going to the World Cup, we need to improve the way we attack. We need to create chances and make the best use of the opportunities that come our way,” he explained.
In a related development, the First Vice President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Seyi Akinwunmi has declared Tuesday’s battling win over Cameroon and the accompanying qualification for the FIFA World Cup and the Women’s AFCON Final as justification by the Super Falcons of NFF’s confidence in the team.
“I feel elated, and I am sure that my colleagues on the board of the NFF will feel the same way anywhere they are pres- ently. The NFF has always had confidence in the Super Falcons and we are happy we got this World Cup ticket. “It was not easy and it could not have been easy, as that was a semi final match (against Cameroon). The Cameroonians were the hosts in 2016 when we beat them in front of a capacity crowd to retain the trophy, so they came with every ounce of strength and tactical knowledge to try and gain revenge. But champions would always be champions and we overpowered them.”
On the preparation for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup finals in France, the Chairman of Lagos State Football Association and Member, CAF Youth Competitions Committee said that there would be no half measures.
“The FIFA World Cup is the FIFA World Cup, and we must put in place a proper and comprehensive preparatory programme for the Super Falcons. We must utilize all the available FIFA windows for the team to play friendlies.
“After the final match on Saturday, the NFF will ask Coach Thomas Dennerby to submit his programme and we will take it from there.”
Nigeria is one of only seven countries in the world that have qualified for all the editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup since the championship was launched in China in 1991. The others are the United States of America, Germany, Sweden, Brazil, Norway and Japan.
The Super Falcons will be joined in France by South Africa’s Banyana Banyana, who they meet in the Women AFCON Final in Accra on Saturday, as well as the winner of the losers’ final between Cameroon and Mali.