Doggedness, intelligent coaching make the difference as Super Falcons uptorn 2-goal deficit to win WAFON

Phenomenal
Phenomenal
A combination of patriotism, passion, doggedness and intelligent coaching has earned the Super Falcons their 10th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations trophy.
They, on Saturday night, defeated host Morocco 3-2, upturning the two goals they incurred in the first half.
All they needed was proactive thinking and action by Coach Justin Madugu who introduced two players in the second half.
This changed the game and transferred the needed steam to the Falcons whose sense of determination was awesome.
As the News Agency of Nigeria also reports, Nigeria staged the extraordinary second-half comeback in front of home fans at the Stade Olympique in Rabat on Saturday night.

With just 12 minutes on the clock, captain Ghizlane Chebbak opened the scoring with a brilliant strike from outside the box, curling the ball low past Nigerian goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie.

Things got even better for the Atlas Lionesses in the 24th minute when Sanaâ Mssoudy doubled Morocco’s lead.

A slick pass from Ibtissam Jraidi found Mssoudy in space, and the forward made no mistake with a composed finish into the bottom right corner.

Nigeria appeared stunned and went into the break trailing by two goals.

The comeback began just after the hour mark when a VAR review handed Nigeria a lifeline.

A handball by Nouhaila Benzina resulted in a penalty, which was coolly dispatched by Esther Okoronkwo to make it 2-1.

From that moment, the  momentum swung Nigeria’s way.

In the 71st minute, Okoronkwo turned provider, slipping a neat ball into the path of Folashade Ijamulusi, who drilled a left-footed effort into the bottom corner to bring Nigeria level.

With the match heading towards extra time, Nigeria found the winner.

A well-worked set-piece situation saw Okoronkwo once again involved, delivering a clever assist to Joe Echegini, who calmly slotted home in the 88th minute to seal a dramatic turnaround.

In spite of the  late pressure, the Super Falcons held firm through a tense final few minutes of stoppage time, to clinch a 10th title in 13 editions of the tournament.

Nigeria’s Nnadozie and captain Rasheedat Ajibade were named Goalkeeper and Player of the tournament respectively.

The Super Falcons had dispatched the defending  Champions South Africa 2-1 in the semi-final.

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