FIFA Women’s World Cup: Nigeria, Canada set alight Melbourne’s Rectangular Stadium

Nigeria and Canada, who’ve met twice on the FIFA Ladies’s World beforehand, will open their account for this ninth version of girls soccer’s biggest showpiece once they conflict on the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium on Friday.

The Tremendous Falcons’ delegation departed from their base – Lodge Sofitel in Brisbane – on Thursday morning, for the 100-minutes flight to Melbourne, oozing confidence and a willpower to maintain their spectacular report towards the Canadians on the largest stage.

Of their first FIFA World Cup assembly, in Sweden on 8 June 1995, each groups performed out a 3-3 draw on the Olympia in Helsingborg, with Nigeria’s objectives coming from Rita Nwadike, Endurance Avre and Adaku Okoroafor. This was after Canada had stomped to a 2-0 lead inside 20 minutes. Each groups have been eradicated on the group stage.

They met once more in Germany in 2011, when Perpetua Nkwocha’s 73rd minute aim made the distinction on the Rudolf-Harbig Stadium in Dresden. Once more, each groups have been eradicated.

Canada had crushed the Tremendous Falcons twice in friendlies earlier than their newest encounter – a 2-2 attract Victoria Metropolis in February 2022.

Nonetheless, Friday, 20 July 2023 is a brand new day with numerous guarantees for each groups, with the Canadian ladies carrying a giant markup as reigning Olympic champions, and having 5 gamers of their ranks with greater than 100 caps at worldwide degree: Christine Sinclair, Sophie Schmidt, Kadeisha Buchanan, Ashley Lawrence and Jessie Fleming.

Sinclair is each the world’s report worldwide caps holder (323) and report worldwide scorer (190). At 40, she is attending her sixth Ladies’s World Cup finals.

Canada’s greatest efficiency on the Ladies’s World Cup was in 2003, once they misplaced the bronze medal match to hosts USA. After they hosted the competitors eight years in the past, they have been bundled out by the USA within the quarter-finals.

The Tremendous Falcons, who had a 15-day closing coaching camp in Gold Coast forward of this match, are in glorious spirit, having gained their final 4 matches and brimming with an superior profitable mentality.

Most lately, they defeated the Queensland Lions FC 8-1 in Brisbane, after wins over Costa Rica (Mexico, February) and Haiti and New Zealand (Turkey, April).

The Tremendous Falcons reached the quarter finals of the FIFA Ladies’s World Cup in 1999, coming near the semi-finals after drawing 3-3 in regulation time, earlier than dropping on the golden aim rule.

In captain Onome Ebi, Nigeria has already scored a primary at this World Cup. She is the oldest participant at this competitors, at 40 (35 days older than Sinclair) and is attending her sixth FIFA World Cup as effectively. She made her debut in its place in the course of the recreation towards the USA in 2003.

Nigeria will miss the providers of key midfielders Rasheedat Ajibade and Halimatu Ayinde, who have been despatched off in the course of the second half of Nigeria’s semi-final conflict with Morocco eventually yr’s Ladies AFCON, and handed two-match bans. They served one of many bans within the third-place recreation towards Zambia days after.

“We look ahead to an attention-grabbing match. Tremendous Falcons is not going to trouble about any crew’s pedigree at this World Cup. In each of our matches, we are going to play to win,” crew captain Onome Ebi instructed thenff.com.

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