Exactly 100 days to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Nigeria’s Super Falcons set up their preparations for the quadrennial competition with a statement-making 3-0 win over co-hosts, New Zealand in an international friendly in Turkey on Tuesday evening.
Following a series of bad runs, Nigeria returned to winning ways with a win over Costa Rica in a friendly match in February before topping that up with a 1-0 victory over Haiti on Friday. The Super Falcons made it three straight wins with Tuesday’s victory against the 24th-best female team in the world, People’s Gazette reports.
The team’s captain, Onome Ebi, put Nigeria upfront with a header in the first half before Jennifer Onyi Echegini tapped in Michelle Alozie’s beautiful cross four minutes into the second half to double the lead.
Goalkeeper, Chiamaka Nnadozie made some impressive saves to deny the New Zealanders from finding the back of the net. However, Desire Oparanozie, who recently returned to the team after months of being sidelined, scored a stoppage-time goal to complete the rout for Nigeria.
The victory would be a morale booster for the Nigerian girls who, along with South Africa, Morocco, and Zambia, will be representing the African continent at the World Cup scheduled to take place in Australia and New Zealand between 20 July – 20 August.
