African women’s champions, Super Falcons of Nigeria beat their Romanian counterparts 4-1 in the third place play-off match with curtain drawn on the four-nation FIFA World Cup tune-up tournament hosted by China.
Sunday’s win at the Wuhua Olympic Sports Stadium was the first for the West African side since they edged South Africa on penalties last December to claim a record ninth African title at the Total Africa Women Nations Cup held in Ghana.
Despite losing 3-0 to the hosts in their opening game of the tournament in China last Thursday, Super Falcons bounced back in style against Romania when BIIK Kazygurt of Kazakhstan striker, Chiwendu Ihezuo fired Nigeria in front towards the end of the first half.
The Europeans levelled scores on resumption of play but Nigeria seized the initiative afterwards through China-based defender Onome Ebi who plies her trade with Henan Huisanhang. Two more goals through Rita Chikwelu and Ini Umutong gave Nigeria a morale-boosting win against the Europeans in this pre-Wold Cup tie.
“Personally, I felt very good and excited about the victory and my goal for the team,”21-year-old Ihezuo who scored her only her second career goal for Super Falcons on Sunday told CAFOnline.com “It was great opportunity giving to me and I really thank God for the goal; the tournament was a good test for us and it is going to help us in the future as we prepare for the World Cup.”
The four-nation tournament in China is one of many matches scheduled for the Super Falcons ahead of the forthcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 to be held in June.
Other tune up matches lined up for the Super Falcons according to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), include a trip to Cyprus next month to participate in a 12-Nation Invitational (between 25th February and 7th March) along with three other World Cup-bound teams namely Italy, South Africa and Thailand while the rest are hosts Cyprus; as well as Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, North Korea, Mexico, Slovakia, South Africa and Thailand.
Meanwhile, hosts China were crowned champions of the four-nation tournament after they defeated North Korea 1-0 in the decider on Sunday.
The Koreans, who had earlier beaten Romania 3-0 to set the stage against China, may have given Super Falcons a foretaste of what to expect against their neighbours, South Korea that are housed along with Nigeria, France and Norway in Group A of the Women’s World Cup.
