All is now set for the quarter-final contest between the high-flying Falconets of Nigeria and the Netherlands U-20 Women’s team as the ongoing FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica enters a crucial bend.
The anticipated explosive encounter will be decided at the Estadio Alajuela Morera Soto (the same venue where the Falconets recorded wins over the Korea Republic and Canada) from 11.30 p.m. Nigerian time on Sunday.
Experience vs Finesse
Going by their antecedents in previous editions of the U20 Women’s World Cup, the Falconets will be the overwhelming favourites.
In the 20–year history of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup, Nigeria have played in the final twice, losing on both occasions to Germany, in Germany 12 years ago and in Canada eight years ago.
In-between, the Falconets reached the semi-finals in Japan 10 years ago.
ALSO READ: U20 Women’s World Cup: Falconets beat Canada, to face the Netherlands in quarter-final
The same cannot be said for the Oranje as the Dutch Ladies are called as they have minimal experience in this tournament; reaching the quarter-finals on their debut in 2018.
What the Dutch ladies lack in terms of experience, they do have in terms of class and finesse all over their side which the Falconets coach Chris Danjuma Musa rightly admits.
The Falconets coach, however, remains confident his girls will get the job done in Sunday’s quarter-final.
He said: “The Dutch are a super-strong squad to have survived that group where the Americans were sent packing. In any event, any team in the quarter-finals must be a super-strong squad. We will not under-rate them, just as we did not under-rate any of France, Korea Republic and Canada.
“As I said at the beginning of the tournament, we are taking it one match at a time. Our overall plan for each of the games in the group phase worked well. And I believe that our overall plan for the match against The Netherlands will work as well,” the Falconets coach added during his pre-match press conference.
Surprisingly, the Netherlands had set a quarter-final ticket for themselves and having achieved that, the team’s coach Jessica Torny said they are hoping to conquer new grounds.
She said: “We have reached our goal, which was the quarter-finals. That pressure is off, but now we have new pressure. We want more from this tournament. We’ll give everything to reach the semi-finals.”
Possible line-up amidst looming suspensions
While the Falconets coach has a full squad to choose from for the game against the Netherlands, his girls will need to be very disciplined to avoid being depleted for the potential semi-final clash against Spain.
Key players like Blessing Demehin, Jumoke Alani, Chioma Olise and Esther Onyenezide all have to avoid being booked to be available if Nigeria makes it to the semi-final as they are just one card away from suspension.
That said, Onyenezide, with three goals in the tournament, is expected to again be the driving force of the Nigeria game going forward, with pacy Flourish Sabastine and Blessing Okpe likely to start as the Falconets seek early goals.
In the midfield section, the trio of Mercy Idoko, Deborah Abiodun and Bashirat Amoo are the obvious first choices except for tactical decisions by the coach.
Goalkeeper Omini Oyono is expected to be at her best as she is protected by captain Oluwatosin Demehin, Jumoke Alani, Omowumi Oshobukola and Rofiat Imuran at the rear.
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