Falconets edge closer to W’Cup qualification with Malawi win
The Falconets of Nigeria have edged closer to qualifying for this year’s FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland after defeating their opponents, Malawi in a pulsating encounter.
The game which was played on Saturday at the Remo Stars stadium in Ikenne, came alive in the second half when the Falconets opened scoring through an own goal after piling pressure on the visitors.
The Nigerian female U-20 side doubled their advantage in the 58th minute through Kindness Ifeanyi who buried the ball at the back of t the net after the Malawian goalkeeper spilled a dangerous cross.
The game ended 2-0 in favour of the Falconets but the Malawi’s could have halved the deficit in the second minute of added time when Sarah Mulimbika played her shot over the bar from a good position to score for her team.
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While reacting to the outcome of the game during the post match press conference, coach of the Nigerian U-20 team, Moses Aduku, said that despite the win, he is still not satisfied with the total performance.
He said; “We thank God for the win, in the first half we were not too good in terms of coordination and secondly opportunity missed but thank God we came into the second half and scored the goals.
“But still I’m not satisfied with the total performance because I believe we can do more, though I can’t say I’m disappointed in my attackers because they scored two goals. In the game of football you can get 100 chances and don’t convert any.”
The return leg of the qualifiers set for May 9 is now finely poised with the Malawi’s hoping to overturn the 2-0 deficit suffered in Ikenne – their first defeat in four away fixtures since the commencement of the qualifiers.
