Thomas Dennerby predicts Women’s World Cup semi-final finish for Nigeria

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

The former coach of Nigeria’s senior women’s national team, Thomas Dennerby expects the nine-time African champions to become the first African side to reach the semi-final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The Super Falcons’ best finish at the Women’s World Cup was a quarter-final placement in 1999 which Dennerby believes Randy Waldrum’s side can replicated in Australia and New Zealand.

“Honestly I am a Swede and Sweden is definitely my team at the World Cup while Nigeria is my second team,” Dennerby told Nigeria Info FM Abuja.

“I hope both of them will have a successful tournament. If both are lucky enough to meet in the tournament, I will choose Sweden. I think there would come some certain new teams that haven’t been so highly ranked before that would be sensational because all the African countries are developing a lot and coming closer.

“Hopefully as it was during the men’s World Cup, we can have a team from Africa get to the quarter-final or semi-final. That must be exceptional for the game. I hope that happens because it is good for football to ensure that certain teams don’t continue to win it.

“Yeah, I hope Nigeria goes far. When I look at the squad, I can see that they have really experienced players. They have players with different skills. They have speed in the team and can read the game well but as a team, you always have to have your best time.

“You have to play the ball at the right moment with the right speed to the right person. If players can manage together and play as a team, I think definitely Nigeria have a good chance to reach a very high level because they have talented players no doubt.

“I hope Super Falcons can reach the semi final. That would be a huge step forward and suoer good for Nigeria but when everything is working, they can go all the way. All teams can go all the way.

“It’s all about their preparations and how the players come together to achieve the great feat. For the first time, I would say there is no real favorites to win the tournament. All of them have a good chance,” he concluded.