Olympics Qualifier: Super Falcons Beat South Africa In Abuja
The Super Falcons of Nigeria claimed a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Banyana Banyana of South Africa in the first-leg of their Women’s football Paris 2024 Olympics Qualifier, at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja on Friday.
Nigeria were without Ashleigh Plumptre and Oluwatosin Demehin, who pulled out of the clash due to injury. Asisat Oshoala was also left on the bench after a late arrival to camp.
🧾Here’s how our line up for this evening clash with South Africa 🇿🇦 in Abuja 📍
📱#SoarSuperFalcons| #NGARSA| #CAFWCQ| #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/Ib5vWQmLS1
— NGSuper_Falcons (@NGSuper_Falcons) April 5, 2024
The Super Falcons asserted its dominance early in the match, with Ihezuo narrowly missing a scoring opportunity in the fifth minute after a precise pass from Echigini.
Rasheedat Ajibade was the heroine for the Super Falcons as her converted penalty sealed the victory for the home side in their final qualifier. A determined run by Chinwendu Ihezuo into the penalty area culminated in a foul, leading to the referee awarding a penalty in favour of Nigeria which Ajibade converted in the 43rd minute.
Banyana Banyana launched a spirited fightback after the break with Seoposenwe testing Nigerian goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie in the 56th minute, but her efforts were thwarted.
Nnadozie continued to showcase her prowess, making another crucial save four minutes later to maintain Nigeria’s advantage.
With the final whistle, Nigeria emerged triumphant with a slender 1-0 victory in the inaugural leg of the final qualifying round.
🏁 FULL TIME! in Abuja 📍
Nigeria 🇳🇬 1-0 South Africa 🇿🇦
Rasheedat Ajibade 43′
First leg ✅ Still to come, second leg in Pretoria on April 9!
Abuja, thanks for your support!
📱#SoarSuperFalcons| #NGARSA| #CAFWCQ| #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/gsqytQuIfg
— NGSuper_Falcons (@NGSuper_Falcons) April 5, 2024
Nigeria secured a valuable victory on home soil, while South Africa now face an uphill battle as they seek to overturn the deficit during the return leg slated for April 9th in Pretoria.
The winner of the two-legged tie between Nigeria and South Africa will earn one of Africa’s two tickets to the women’s football event at the Paris Olympics, with Zambia and Morocco battling for the other ticket.
The 2024 Olympics is billed to take place in Paris, France, from July 26th – 11th August, 2024.
Super Falcons/Chidi Nwoke.
