Super Falcons defender Ashleigh Plumptre is relieved Nigeria made a statement for African countries at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 despite their penalty shoot-out defeat to England on Monday.
The 11-time African champions held the reigning European champions to a goalless draw after extra-time in Brisbane before losing 4-2 in the shoot-out.
The England-born defender played the entire duration of the encounter and came close to breaking the deadlock twice in the first-half.
The defeat ended Nigeria’s impressive outing in Australia and New Zealand, however, Plumptre insists their performance interprets that African nations are not pushovers on the global stage.
For the first time in the FIFA Women’s World Cup history, three African countries made it into the knockout stage with only Zambia exiting in the group stage.
When quizzed about her reaction to Monday’s result, Plumptre said: “Yeah, I feel like that’s football isn’t it? It’s nice actually though that we’ve gone into this game and hopefully people will look at this now.
“I feel like a lot of people probably put a lot of disrespect on African nations because they say that just physical. Or they’re just fast. But you can see we have incredible technical players and I think now more people need to be talking about what we do as overall like footballing nation.
“Like, we’re not just some, we’re not just like a kick and run when people like they do make those kinds of assumptions.
“So it’s nice that all African teams at this tournament have showcased like what they’re all about. And yeah, for me playing for this team is just, yeah, it’s a real blessing. I’m just, I just feel grateful. Obviously I feel disappointed but I just feel grateful that I’ve had this experience with them.”
Following Nigeria’s exit, Morocco is the only African country left in the competition and they will play France in their round of 16 match on Tuesday.
YOU CAN WATCH THE FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP ROUND OF 16 MATCH BETWEEN MOROCCO AND FRANCE LIVE ON AFROSPORT, CHANNEL 730 ON FREE TV OR STREAM FOR FREE VIA VIDIVU TV.
