Randy Waldrum is unlocking Super Falcons, Africa’s foremost women’s football team to compete on the world stage.
Different coaches and methods have seen Nigeria dominate Africa but wobble on the world stage with the glory years far and few in between.
A surprise Showing in 99, and a second-round performance in 2019 with no distinct patterns are special moments for the Super Falcons at the World Cup.
African Dominace Can’t Translate To World Stage
Dominating in Africa became the SI unit until the rest of Africa caught up.
It got to a head when at the 2022 WAFCON, Nigeria lost three games for the first time: An opening group loss to South Africa, a semi-final loss to Morocco, and a third-place loss to Zambia.
What looked like an end for Nigeria eventually became the starting point for unlocking the Super Falcons as a strong team disciplined enough to compete at the World Cup.
Randy’s team didn’t lose a single game in normal time at the last women’s World Cup and have been unbeaten in eight games since then while keeping seven clean sheets.
“I think this is our 7th or 8th clean sheet in our last 8 or 9 games. Australia is the only team that scored twice against us. We’ve been very good defensively. I always felt strongly about that. With some proper work, we will even get better with things on the offensive side which everybody has been asking for.”
To achieve this, Randy Waldrum needed to first fail at WAFCON before stripping the team down and rebuilding it with the fountain of youth.
Finally, the Falcons had what they lacked in a very long time, organization, discipline, blocking channels, intercepting, and a talented goalkeeper.
Unlocking Super Falcons: FIFA World Cup And A New World Order
The FIFA World Cup offered a glimpse with the team shutting out England, Canada, and Ireland. While Nigeria showed discipline and organization, a big challenge was growing in Africa.
South Africa, the African champions have finally developed the confidence to come to Nigeria after years of failures.
The last round of the Olympic qualifiers set the stage for a battle of pride and dominance.
The Nigerian technical crew did a good job as the South Africans love ball playing and possession.
“The team did everything we asked them to do to get the result. We knew the South Africans would come at us. We respect their strengths and team very much”.
So with Ayinde and Debbie, with Ucheibe in defense, Randy cut them off and the girls marked closely and it was frustrating for SA who loved space.
The first leg in Abuja ended 1-0 while the Super Falcons dropped an organizational master class to deny South Africa.
Renewing The Strength Of The Falcon
The key component to Randy’s revival was the phasing out of older players and the belief in youth.
After the WAFCON disaster, midfielder Rita Chikwelu retired, defender Onome Ebi followed suit while Asisat Oshoala constantly received reduced playing time.
The introduction of U20 star, Deborah Abiodun and the return of Halimat Ayinde stabilized the midfield as the addition of Ucheibe and Toni Payne became the icing.
Young central defender, Tosin Demehin alongside Rofiat Imuran at left full back further made the team younger and faster.
Despite the World Cup performance, Randy Waldrum needed to reclaim the lost glory in the continent. Banyana Banyana of South Africa was standing in the way.
Jennifer Echijeni and Ajibade took out Jane and Motlhalo as without those two, SA couldn’t connect well.
Randy set out to shut them out and he achieved it.
Super Falcons since the World Cup is built on defense and few attacking options in games. All we need to do is sort our scoring.
We need our 10 to be more daring (Ajbade, Payne, or Echeigeine) is the weapon, They need to arrive more in the box and shoot. The 9 is often too isolated.