Women’s World Cup: Steph Catley hails Nigeria after Australia humbling

By Saheed Afolabi

Australia captain, Steph Catley has commended Nigeria for utilizing their chances after the Super Falcons swept aside the Matildas 3-2 to record their first win of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

The Aussies had stormed to the lead inside the additional minutes of the first half through Emily Van Egmond but Uchenna Kanu levelled before the break and Osinachi Ohale and Asisat Oshoala took the contest beyond the co-hosts despite late consolation from Alanna Kennedy.

And the Matildas skipper, expressed disappointment in the several missed begging chances, while giving kudos to Nigeria for been effective on the counterattack.

“Obviously extremely disappointed. I think this was a massive opportunity for us that we obviously let slide, but it’s tournament football, and this sort of thing happens,” Steph Catley told Complete Sports.

“It was definitely not our best performance. We created a lot of opportunities that we potentially could have finished. I haven’t seen the statistics, but I assume we had a fair few shots.

“If some of those go in, maybe it’s a different story, but they [Nigeria] were great on the counter, and they finished their chances.”

Super Falcons will battle with Republic of Ireland in the last group game that will stand like an epic decider.