The 11th edition of the Africa Women Cup of Nations has come and gone with the Super Falcons successfully defending their title.
The Nigerian ladies have won nine, out of the 11 edition of the AWCON. They deserve commendation, for it is not a mean feat.
While we celebrate these heroines for their heroic display, it is important we do not over celebrate and forget that the Women’s World Cup will be here in a matter of months.
It will be deceitful and destructive if we think all is well with the Super Falcons because they won the AWCON. The team struggled and was fortunate to win.
This is the first time the team could not win their semi-final and final matches during the regulation time.
While this could be as a result of the opposition getting stronger, it is also a fact that the team is not as superlative as it used to be.
In that semi-final, for instance, the Lionesses of Cameroon were stronger, mobile and controlled the game. But they lacked creative in attack, which made the match to end goalless. If it was a European side that is clinical that match would not have gotten to penalties.
At a point in the match the Super Falcons could not string couple of passes together. They gave away possession too easily even in their own half.
Apart from Francesca Odega who runs, dribbles and commits the opponents with the ball most members of the team only traps and kick the ball.
The semi-final and the final that dragged to penalties were largely because of the lack of creativity in the Super Falcons not necessarily because of the strength of the opposition.
If next year’s World Cup will not be a show of shame, Thomas Dennerby and his technical staff must rise to the occasion.
They must work on the fitness of the girls. The players look tired during the last 20 minutes of their matches and struggled to cope with their opponents during the extra-time especially in the semi-finals.
The team needs more strong and talented players like Francesca Odega, who can run with the ball, dribble and create chances for the strikers to score.
