The head coach of the Nigeria senior women’s team, Randy Waldrum, remains optimistic of the team’s chances at the ongoing Revelation Cup despite their 1-0 defeat to hosts Mexico in the opening game earlier today.
The Super Falcons fell to a lone goal from Club America forward Kiana Palacios late in the game. The Falcons’ last win was against Cameroon in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, and they have now lost six straight games since then.
Waldrum believes they played well in the second half of the game and that the defeat was a “learning process” for the nine-time African Champions, as he expects them to bounce back immediately.
“In the last 20 minutes of the first half, they were on top of us and we were not getting out of our own end, but we came out a lot better in the second half after we had time to talk during the break,” he said.
“We have a lot of young players and it’s a learning process for us. These are the type of matches we want to play in.”
🚨POST MATCH REACTIONS 🚨
🔊”It’s a learning process for us” –
Our head coach Randy Waldrum shares his thoughts on the 1-0 loss to hosts Mexico 🇲🇽 in Leon 📍#SoarSuperFalcons|#FIFAWWCprep| #Team9jastrong| #RevelationsCup pic.twitter.com/3x97ybV7Yc— NGSuper_Falcons (@NGSuper_Falcons) February 16, 2023
The American also gave an update on the injury to teenage left back Rofiat Imuran, who was stretched off due to injury on the brink of halftime and was replaced by Glory Ogbonna.
“I need to speak to the doctor to see how serious it is. She looks to be battling a stomach injury and it obviously affected us as we had to make some tactical and personnel changes,” the 66-year-old tactician said.
“Overall, its football, you need to have the depth and everyone needs to say ready,” he concluded.
The Super Falcons will have a chance to get back on track in the four-nation tournament when they battle Colombia in their next game on Saturday, February 18, as they continue preparations for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
