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Tag: Peter Dedevbo

  • Falconets down but not out – Dedevbo

    Falconets down but not out – Dedevbo

    Falconets Coach, Peter Dedevbo, has remained bullish despite the 6-0 walloping by Japan in Nigeria’s first match at the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in Papua New Guinea on Sunday.

    Dedevbo, who acknowledged the superiority of the Japanese side, insisted that the Sunday’s result will not mark the end of the road for Nigeria in the tournament.

    He is optimistic that his girls will bounce back to pick maximum points from the remaining two matches in the group stage, and charged the players to put behind them the horror of the first game and focus on the Canada and Spain challenge.

    “We are down but not out, and this is the time for us to fight till the end of the competition. It would be fool –hardy for us to start feeling sorry for ourselves because it will affect our focus for the remaining games in the tournament.

    “I must acknowledge the fact that the Japanese side was good, even though I didn’t envisage the goal margin. The outcome means that we will return to the trenches and re-strategize.”

    Japan powered to victory through strikes from Mami Ueno and Yuka Momiki, who netted a hat -trick and brace respectively. The duo’s attacking force resulted in an own goal by Nigerian defender Mary Ologbosere. Yuka Momiki was named the Live Your Goal player of the match.

  • Ahead of FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup: Falconets are not fully prepared, says Dedevbo

    Nigeria U-20 women coach, Peter Dedevbo admits his side is not fully prepared for the U20 Women’s World Cup which commences on November 13 in Papua New Guinea.

    Dedevbo, who left the country with 21 players for the international showpiece on Sunday, lamented their rustiness due to limited training games and poor preparation.

    “I got a lot of revelations after the friendly match against the Super Falcons,” Dedevbo told Goal.

    “It revealed to me that I have a lot of work to do in every department. At this point, I will say we have gotten 40 percent out of 100 marks. It was our first friendly against a female team.

    “But the truth is that we are not fully prepared for the tournament. I’m not feeling too well because I think my team is not fully prepared for the World Cup.

    “In 2014, we prepared very well, and I was satisfied with our preparation. We didn’t enter the camp in good time and we only got six games which are not enough to prepare a team for the World Cup.

    “We only had six weeks in camp and it is difficult hoping on luck when we did not do the right planning for the tournament.

    “It is my dream to surpass my best this time in Papua New Guinea but our preparation is not giving me enough confidence knowing the caliber of opponents we are facing at the World Cup.

    “We are hoping for the best and I trust God will do the rest. I appeal to Nigerians to pray for the team to succeed”.

    Dedevbo who led the team to finish as runners-up the last term will hope to get his side in good shape to secure a winning start at the Bava Park in Port Moresby on November 13.

  • Women’s U-20 World Cup: Falconets coach happy to break Q/F jinx

    Women’s U-20 World Cup: Falconets coach happy to break Q/F jinx

    The Head coach of Nigeria U-20 Women’s national team, Peter Dedevbo, has expressed his delight with the Falconets’ 4-1 win over New Zealand in Sunday’s quarter final game of the ongoing Women’s U-20 World Cup in Canada.

    Dedevbo led the U-17 women national team to two quarter final appearances at the FIFA Women’s U-17 World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago 2010 and Azerbaijian 2012 respectively.

    But on Sunday, a brace each from Rivers Angels’ pair of Asisat Oshoala and Sunday Uchechi at the Moncton Stadium fired the Nigerians past the Oceania side into their third consecutive semi-finals at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, Goal reports.

    On the secret behind his team’s victory over New Zealand, Dedevbo told Goal that the successful execution of the extra practice on creating and converting chances aided the Falconets’ victory.

    “It means a lot to me – after taking the U-17 to the quarter-final twice – people saw it as if I was jinxed not to pass the quarter-final stages at a World Cup competition. I’m happy to have finally broken the jinx,” Dedevbo told Goal.

    “In our previous matches we created chances but failed to convert them. So the emphasis was on how many goals we can score during our training session before the game.

    “When we won our last group match to qualify to the quarter-final, the confidence in the team began to improve. And winning today the confidence is high, the character is high and everything about the team is high at the moment,” he said excitedly.

     

  • Dedevbo: We have to take England seriously

    Dedevbo: We have to take England seriously

    Falconets Coach Peter Dedevbo has said they have to take their last group game against England very ‘seriously’, despite needing just a point to progress at the ongoing FIFA Women’s U-20 World Cup.

    The Nigerian girls have four points after two games and will need at least a draw against the English to be guaranteed a place in the quarter finals.

    But Dedevbo said despite being in such a good situation, the game against England must be taken with all seriousness.

    “We must take the game very seriously, just like any other game. We cannot afford to be too confident,” he told SL10.

    Mexico and England both have two points apiece, and the former will progress if they beat Korea Republic, while England know only an outright victory over Nigeria can secure their place in the next round.

    But Dedevbo is having none of those permutations as he insists that his players must stay focused.

    “We must stay focused,we cannot bother ourselves with what the other teams play. We just have to focus on our game.”

    The Falconets are looking to win the bi-annual for the first time, despite having competed in all editions starting from the first in Canada in 2002.

    Dedevbo meanwhile, said that despite the desire to win, he’s hardly under pressure.

    “I’m not under pressure. Of course the ambition is always to win but I’m not putting myself under any pressure.

    “I’ve said the same to the players. We cannot afford to play under pressure. We have to be calm at all times.”

    The Falconets play England on Wednesday at 6pm local time and will be hoping to get one past their European counterparts.

  • Dedevbo assures on correcting Falconets’ lapses

    Dedevbo assures on correcting Falconets’ lapses

    The Falconets’ Head Coach, Peter Dedevbo, has assured that the national under-20 women football team would work on lapses witnessed in the team’s 1-2 loss to their Ghanaian counterparts.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Nigerian side on Sunday lost the second of their four friendly matches against the Black Princesses, played at the Municipal Stadium in Tema, Ghana.

    In a statement by the team’s Media Officer, Elizabeth Kah, on Monday in Abuja, it said the coach promised that the lapses would not go uncorrected.

    “The Ghanaian side played robust football, forcing the Falconets to play with caution. But we will work on the lapses noticed in the two matches played against the Ghanaian side to improve ourselves,” Dedevbo said.

    The Black Princesses scored the only goal of the match in  the 15th minute through Fatima Alhassan.

    The Falconets and the Ghanaian side are to face each other in four friendlies before the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup scheduled for Canada in August.

    Nigeria had won 2-1 in the first match on Friday, also played in Ghana, while the return leg matches will take place in Nigeria from June 20 to June 22.

     

  • Falconets have sealed Canada ticket – Dedevbo

    Falconets have sealed Canada ticket – Dedevbo

    • Elegbeleye commends team

     

    After demolishing South Africa’s U-20 women side 6-0,Falconet’s coach, Peter Dedevbo said it loud and clear his girls have already sealed the World Cup ticket in Canada.

    “I thank God Almighty for this result and I thank my players for putting up an impressive performance in today’s (Saturday) match. I think we are already in Canada. I believe we have qualified for the World Cup. One thing for sure is that there is no way my team will concede six (6) goals to South Africa; we will even score goals in the return leg.

    “We are going to approach the second leg as if we have not won the first leg by this wide margin. We will continue to work very hard until the second leg is played because they say it is not over until it is finally over,” Dedevbo disclosed.

    Meanwhile, the Director General of the National Sports Commission, Honourable Gbenga Elegbeleye, who watched the match, was full of commendations for the Falconets and was upbeat about the team’s chances to win the Canada 2014 FIFA Women’s U- 20 World Cup.

    “I am very impressed with these girls. They showed class in today’s match against the South Africans. In as much as I want them to work hard for the return leg to seal the World Cup ticket, I don’t see South Africa stopping them from winning the ticket,” he said.