The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Cyprus cup

  • Dennerby: Nigeria learned ‘good lessons’ at Cyprus Cup

    Nigeria women’s coach Thomas Dennerby says there were good lessons learned from his team’s campaign at the Cyprus Cup.

    The African champions finished seventh out of 12 teams at the week-long warm-up tournament ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

    After an opening defeat to Austria (4-1), they edged Slovakia (4-3), lost to Belgium (1-0), and finished with a win over Thailand (3-0) in a play-off for seventh place.

    “We lost to Austria but we recovered well against Slovakia, and if we had put away the chances we had after scoring our third goal, there would have been no way for them to equalise.  It is good thing that we won in the end. I am happy that we were able to come here and participate,” Dennerby said.

    The Super Falcons, who finished third at the four-team China Cup in January, are set to play in their eighth consecutive World Cup this summer.

    “The lessons are good for the team, just like we also learnt a lot at the tournament in China,” Dennerby added.

    After mixed results in 2019, Dennerby, who is set to become the first foreign coach to both qualify for and lead Nigeria at the World Cup, is focusing on the positives.

    “We learned a lot of lessons in China and Cyprus that will positively help us do better in France. It was a great opportunity for us to know where we are, our biggest strength, where we can be and what we have to fix.”

    The nine times African champions have been drawn in Group A alongside hosts France, 1995 winners Norway and South Korea. They are the only African team to have played in all seven tournaments since the first Women’s World Cup in 1991, but have failed to translate their continental dominance onto the world stage.

    Their best performance came when reaching the quarter-finals in 1999, losing narrowly to Brazil. They have been eliminated in the group stage at the last four tournaments.

  • Cyprus Cup: Falcons hammer Thailand in 7th place match

     

    World cup bound Super Falcons Wednesday at the ongoing Cyprus Cup, hammered Thailand 3-0 in a 7th place match.

    Barcelona Ladies ace Assisat Oshoala opened the floodgate of goals for Falcons in the 23rd minute and Onome Ebi increased the tally five minutes later.

    The Thomas Dernneby girls held on to their 2-0 lead till the end of first half.  On resumption of hostilities in the second half, the first 24 minutes produced no goals for either side but in the 74th minute Anam Imo grabbed the third and final goal for the Falcons as the held on to the lead till final whistle.

    The match was however not without incidence as the duo of Ngozi Ebere and Osinachi Ohale saw yellow in the 64th and 90th minute respectively.

    The Thailand team otherwise called Chaba Kaew began their campaign in the tournament with a 4-0 demolition of Hungary; lost 2-1 to Mexico followed by another 4-1 defeat by Italy, the 3-0 defeat by Falcons thus ensured that the team conceded nine goals scoring six.

    Falcons on their part began with a 4-1 loss to Austria, followed by a 4-3 defeat of Slovakia, a loan goal loss to Belgium and finally a 3-0 defeat of Thailand.

    In other matches played on Wednesday, Hungary beat Slovakia 3-2 in the 11th place match; Finland defeated South Africa 3-0 in the 9th place match while Belgium beat 3-2 in the third place match.

    Other classification matches saw Mexico beat Czech Republic 2-1 to claim 5th place. Korea DPR and Italy will slug it out in the Final match. Falcons are expected back in the country Thursday.

  • Cyprus Cup: Super Falcons suffer another defeat

     

    Super Falcons suffered yet another defeat Monday in the Cyprus cup. Falcons who managed to defeat Slovakia 4-3 on Wednesday lost by a loan goal to Belgium in the final group game. The team thus finished third in group C with only three points in three matches.

    Austria who handed Falcons their first baptism of fire at the event top the group with seven points. Belgium finished second in the group with seven points like Austria but with inferior goal difference.

    Second African representatives at the event Bayana Bayana finished last in group A after losing their last match 2-1 to Czech Republic. The only edge the Falcons have over Bayana Bayana in the tournament is that they managed to win a match while the South Africans drew a match and lost two. 

    The six teams that made impressive run of the tournament are Korea DPR and Czech Republic who finished first and second in Group A, Italy and Mexico who finished first and second in Group B and Austria and Belgium who finished first and second in Group C.

     

     

  • Cyprus cup: Austria hammers Super Falcons 4-1

     

    World cup bound Super Falcons began their participation in the shape up Cyprus cup on a losing note after suffering a 4-1 defeat to Austria.

    Falcons managed to hold their opponents and maintain a goalless first half but conceded the first goal shortly after the resumption of second half.

    Toochukwu Oluehi had been handed a red as early as the 5th minute of the match which perhaps appeared to have taken the team aback. Nina Burger’s goal in the 48th minute for Austria served as a major ginger for the Austrians as Nicole Bila increased the tally in the 59th minute.

    Barcelona ladies forward Assisat Oshoala however raised hope for Falcons after she grabbed a 65th minute goal.  Falcons efforts at getting equaliser however failed to materialize rather it was Austrian ladies that scored two more goals in the 72nd and 84th minutes respectively thanks to Laura Felesinger and Jenifer Klein respectively.

    Austria thus leads the group with three points followed by Belgium who also won their match against 3-0 against Slovakia while Nigeria occupy the third place and Slovakia on the fourth place without no points.

    South Africa’s Bafana Bafana who are also participating in the competition were held to a 2-2 draw. In other matches played on Wednesday, Italy hammered Mexico 5-0, Korea DPR beat Czech Republic 2-1, while Thailand beat Hungary 4-0.  Falcons will on Friday file out against Slovakia in their second match.

    The Cyprus cup is part of the shape for the team ahead of the FIFA women world cup in France.