Nigeria Content Online

One
of the African tickets to the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup was secured
by the Falcons when they thrashed the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon
5-1 on Thursday morning at the Sinama Stadium in South Africa.

The Falcons meet
defending champions, Equatorial Guinea, in the final on Sunday.
Equatorial Guinea beat hosts, South Africa, 3-1 in extra-time in the
second semi-final match.

Caging Nkwocha

The Falcons victory
over the Cameroonian Lionesses confirmed their superiority over the
team they beat 4-3 via penalty shootout in the third place match of the
last edition of this championship. In yesterday’s game, the
Cameroonians had set out their stall from the opening whistle – shackle
7-goal heroine, Perpetua Nkwocha, but all the double-teaming was almost
a misnomer in the seventh minute when Nkwocha had a close header saved
on the line by the Cameroonian goal keeper. Cameroonian defender, Cathy
Bou, was the leader of the defenders and she was hard going into
tackles against both Desire Oparanozie and Nkwocha, serving notice to
the two strikers that she intended to keep them at bay.

In the 13th minute,
Oparanozie was roughly brought down by Bou on the edge of the box; and
she being the last defender should have been shown a straight red card
but a yellow card sufficed. Helen Ukaonu blazed the free kick wide off
target. Another chance was frittered away in the 16th minute when
Oparanozie failed to control in front of the goalkeeper. The Nigerian
team was in control of the match but there were no dividends. The
Lionesses could only test the Nigerians with long range shots from
midfield as the defensive duo of Osinachi Ohale and Onome Ebi held firm
against Ngoh Marlyse, who was throwing her weight around. Ebere Orji
headed unto the upright when it was easier to have scored in the 25th
minute. In the 26th and 27th minutes, Cameroon pressed the Nigerians
back and won two consecutive corner kicks.

The game changer

From the clearance
of the second corner kick in the 27th minute, Stella Mbachu is hacked
down by Bou, and she is shown a second yellow card. She is then sent
off and the advantage was now firmly in the Falcons’ side. More
pressure on the Cameroonian defence and they conceded a free kick which
was then headed out by Marlyse for a corner kick. With the wind behind
the ball, Helen Ukaonu floated an in-swinging corner that eluded the
goal keeper and the Falcons had a deserving opener. There was two
additional minutes which was utilised by the Nigerian team. Nkwocha,
who had dropped deep to escape the Cameroonian defence, split the
defence with a pass to Mbachu, who raced to the line and delivered a
pin-point cross which Oparanozie headed into goal.

The second half had
hardly taken off when the Cameroonians clawed their way back into the
game. A free kick from about the centre circle by Marlyse caused
confusion between Dede and her defenders, and the rebound off her
attempted punch is headed into goal by Janet Njok. The pressure was
immediately on the Falcons as the 10-women Lionesses swarmed forward in
search of the equaliser. The Cameroonian goalkeeper however gifted the
ball to Nkwocha from a goal kick in the 57th minute. She controlled
beautifully before slotting home. The Cameroonians still pressed
forward through No.7 and their No.9 but the shots from distance still
failed to trouble Dede, who continued to look good with her dives. The
game was ended as contest in the 73rd minute by Nkwocha.

The Nkwocha show

A marauding run
down the left by Oparanozie was rewarded with a throw in. She quickly
took it to Ukaonu, who then delivered a telling cross into the box
where the Cameroonian defenders were caught out. Nkwocha, on her first
touch, calmly guided the ball into the net and it was effectively game
over. Nkwocha now pressed forward for another goal in the 79th minute,
when she took the ball past two defenders on the left, cutting into the
box where she was brought down by Gaelle Engelment. The referee,
Theresa Sanni, from Guinea, rightly blew for a penalty. Nkwocha dusted
herself off, picked her spot to the right of the goalkeeper, and
scored. She had then scored her 10th goal of the tournament, five short
of her target of 15 goals.

“Goal scoring is in
me,” said the 10 goal heroine. “My team mates told me I would score 15
goals, I have 10 now, and hopefully I will get the rest in the finals.”
The Cameroonian coach conceded that his team were second in the races
behind the Nigerian even though the sending off aided their defeat.
Coach Enow Ngachu said, “Our game plan was disorganised by the red
card. But I think it was a fair decision and the Nigerian team was
better.”

Revenge on their minds

Eucharia Uche was
just happy that her team had not let down their Nigerian fans, “I am so
happy that we did not let Nigeria down.” On Nkwocha’s 10 goals in the
competition, the former Falcon said, “I have always said that Nkwocha
is the motivator in the team and I am so happy that she is scoring all
these goals.” On their desire for a final opponent between Equatorial
Guinea and South Africa, Uche said, “We are not afraid of anyone as we
have shown so far.” But Mbachu wants the defending champions,
Equatorial Guinea. “We want revenge and to prove to them that we are
better.” The final will come up at the Sinama Stadium on Sunday and the
Falcons who were beaten 1-0 by Equatorial Guinea in the semi-final will
be looking to reclaim the title they won on six straight occasions
before that match.