Nigeria: Falcons Upbeat Ahead of Germany Clash

Ismaila Lere With Agency Reports

29 June 2011

Nigeria’s Super Falcons say they are confident they can withstand the anticipated fireworks of the Germany women’s team and unleash some of their own in tomorrow’s FIFA Women’s World Cup Group A clash between both countries in Frankfurt.

The host nation is hot favourite to take the three points in the encounter on current form and pedigree, but the Falcons insist tomorrow’s meeting will be a different ball game compared to what happened in Leverkusen in November 2010.

In a friendly international inside the Leverkusen Stadium, the German ran riot, scoring eight goals with the Falcons unable to find the net.

“We won’t take anything away from the Germans and their competence but the truth is, there were factors that greatly assisted them in that match. Those factors will not be present on Thursday (tomorrow), and we are all determined to get a result out of this game following the loss to France”, said team captain and goalkeeper Precious Dede as the squad landed in Frankfurt on Monday afternoon.

Venue for tomorrow’s match is the hugely impressive FIFA World Cup Stadium in Frankfurt, which can seat 48,817 spectators. The stadium hosted five matches during the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals and also hosted matches during the 1988 European Championship.

The Falcons must get a result out of tomorrow’s game after losing 0-1 to France on Sunday. Germany top the pool on goals difference after edging Canada 2-1, with the Canadians also pointless.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation has denied a report in a national newspaper that it did not present match jerseys of the National Women’s team, Super Falcons during the pre-match meeting before the game against France.

“That is a shameful report because nothing like that happened. We were asked to present our jerseys and we did that even before the French delegation. That is a blatant lie and it is not good for the nation’s image.

“We could not have failed to present the jerseys because we know it is a requirement for every match coordination meeting”, said NFF’s Assistant General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, who led the Nigerian delegation to the pre-match meeting.

AllAfrica – All the Time