Representing Nigeria, The Super Falcons took on Norway in their first fixture at the 2019 Women’s World Cup on Saturday. Norway beat Nigeria by 3 – 0 following France’s 4 – 0 win over South Korea during the opening game.

 

Norway were champions in 1995, but have not progressed beyond the round of 16 since 2007. Meanwhile, Nigeria is also the only African country to have played at every Women’s World Cup. Unfortunately, they have only passed the first round once. They failed to progress to the knockout stage in 2015 after a draw that grouped them with the USA, Australia and Sweden.

 

 

The team’s vice-captain, Asisat Oshoala, who is also a three-time African Women’s Footballer of the Year prize winner, explained how she doesn’t feel under pressure.

 

She said,

“I love my job. I see it like I’m going to have fun on the pitch. A lot of people are expecting much from me, but for me, it’s just a day-to-day thing. I go out there and play football, help the team, help my team-mates, get some goals if possible.”

 

Oshoala recently signed a new contract at Barca.

 

Speaking about the coach, she said,

“He has really helped the team to be much better when it comes to the team patterns and understanding your opponent. I feel like we have the quality, and now we have a coach who knows how to use the quality in the team, so it is a big advantage for us.”

 

“We just feel like we don’t want to make up numbers for the tournament. We don’t want to be just participants. We want to try and qualify from the group stage and move forward.”

 

The next game kicks off at 8 pm West African time.