‘How to survive Olympics’ group of death’

In the build-up to the last FIFA Women’s World Cup co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, the Super Falcons suffered a 0-2 defeat to Japan in a friendly match played at the Noevir Stadium in the city of Kobe.

That defeat in October 2022 was the Super Falcons’ third in the hands of the Nadeshiko, although the Nigerians had defeated them once in 2004 when they met for the first time at the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
 
In that friendly encounter in Kobe, the Super Falcons were outplayed and overrun by the Japanese, who dominated the game from the first whistle till the end.
 
After missing three editions of the Olympic Games in London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, the Super Falcons, on Tuesday, qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics Games by playing a 0-0 draw with the Banyana Banyana of South Africa in Pretoria. They picked the ticket courtesy of their 1-0 victory in Abuja last week.
 
In Paris, Nigeria will face former world champions, Japan, current world title holders, Spain and powerhouse Brazil in Group C. For the Super Falcons to navigate their way out of the ‘tight group,’ former international and ex-coach of Eko United FC, Adegoke Adelabu, has advised the coaches to evaluate the team’s performances in the last competition; especially concerning the ability to play to instructions and the relevance of the tactics to the potential abilities of the players.
 
“There are times when a team may qualify for a competition not because they are tactically adequate, but because their opponents too were not good enough,” Adelabu said.

“The coaches need to get some tapes about the opponents (Japan, Spain and Brazil) to study the way they played and identify their strengths and weaknesses.”