Super Falcons of Nigeria head coach Thomas Dennerby said that his team has shown the world their improvement following a 3-0 loss to powerhouse Germany in the round of 16 at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France on Saturday.
“We showed the whole world that Nigeria has a team which improved a lot,” Dennerby told a press conference.
“You are never satisfied with going out, but you also have to know where you come from. We are not ready yet. We still improve the team to play games like this, and it’s important for the future to know when playing the best teams, you will get punished for just a small mistake.”
Concise News reports that Nigeria conceded two goals in a span of seven minutes in the first half, with the first through a header from 100-time capped Alexandra Popp, and the second by a spot-kick awarded to Germany through VAR review.
“If you play a team like Germany, you cannot do these small mistakes. We came back at the end of the first half and played really good for five to ten minutes, and the second half was also good.
“They had some chances of counter-attacks. It’s normal because we need to go forward and score, we have to take some risks. But we need to keep on working very hard for the future and upcoming matches and use FIFA dates to keep working hard and playing games like this.
“We have really talented players back home in Nigeria. As for the World Cup campaign, we come out with good performance, but we have to learn from these small mistakes within this game and the first game against Norway. It’s going in the right way,” Dennerby pointed out.
Dennerby admitted that Popp’s header was the turning point throughout the duel.
“It’s crucial. You let a goal in on a corner, then seconds later you have a penalty kick against. If you play Germany, you cannot do with these mistakes. It affects the game plan. You need to start changing and take risks you don’t have to.
“We know that during the game we got more and more chances. But if you could handle these two situations better, that could have a change on the game in the second half,” he commented.
Despite the first two conceded goals going in favour for opponents through VAR, Dennerby said that he will not blame the system while adding that “there are some strange situations.”
“One time in the first, no one knows what they are waiting for. Football is a game with the rhythm. If you break the rhythm, sometimes that’s not good. I don’t think anybody has the final solution for VAR yet. We will see what comes in the future,” noted Dennerby.
“We play in the group teams ranked No. 4, 12 and 14, while we are 38th. We have to understand where we started and are going. One good thing is that we still create chances, and we also did it today against Germany. We need to score more. It’s about working on a daily basis.
Some final words from coach. // //
— Ann Odong, FIFA (@FIFAWWC_NGA)
“I’m proud of seeing the improvement of the team, and that we go to the knockout stage, but I’m not satisfied and happy about going out in the round of 16.
“We still have a lot to do. We have to keep working on a daily basis, that’s the only way we can develop the team. It’s absolutely crucial that we have time together, so we can take care of young talents back home in Nigeria,” said Dennerby.
