Barcelona Femeni of Spain attacker, Asisat Oshoala has issued daring declaration that she and her colleagues in Nigeria’s women’s national team, Super Falcons are determined to get their pound of flesh against Team USA in their next game a the WNT Summer Series in Texas.
Although the mach will be played on American soil in Austin, Texas his Tuesday, Oshoala, who captained the team to a dramatic 3-3 draw with Portugal on Sunday after arriving camp barely 24 hours to kick-off in Houston, stressed that the 11-time African champions will go for victory.
She declared as much in the wake of a come-from-behind stalemate with Portugal, courtesy a 95th minute equalizer by fellow-former FC Robo Queens of Lagos product, Rashedat Ajibade, and the four-time African Women Footballer of The Year was exhilarated afterwards.
The match featured Portugal scoring twice inside the first 34 minutes, Nigeria pulling a goal back just before halftime, the Europeans once again up by two goals early in the second half and then the Falcons fought back for two more goals.
Megasportsarena.com reports that Nigeria had a chance to tie in the 83rd minute when a curling shot struck the crossbar and it seemed that would be it for the Falcons, but six minutes of stoppage time was just enough for them to get the ultimate equalizer.
The goal came after Portugal forward Melissa Gomes made an ill-advised back pass in her own defensive third and it was picked off by forward Gift Monday, who then played a short pass to Payne, who flew into the left side of box on the dribble and cut a short pass back to Ajibade.
The velvety Ajibade then stylishly slid on the turf to knock the ball into the right corner, sparking a wild celebration from the Nigerians, as the final whistle blew seconds later, following which the Falcons’ coach, Randy Waldrum joined in praising his players’ efforts.
The American football tactician added his voice to Oshoala’s battle cry with a verdict that his side will put up their best performance so far under his charge, as he goes for his fifth game as handler of the team he started working with back in October.
Oshoala retorted ahead of Wednesday’s clash with the FIFA Women’s World Cup champions and hosts USA, who thrashed Jamaica 4-0 in their second game of the invitational tourney: “I want to say this is just the beginning because we have so much in this team.
“We don’t even know what we have, people out there kept cheering us when we had the ball because we kept on pushing. That’s the spirit!” and Waldrum also congratulated the team for the hard-fought draw, a he added: “We are always in the game till the last whistle.”
