Paris 2024: Waldrum urges Falcons to be more clinical infront of goal

Published

2 months ago

February 29, 2024

Super Falcons’ Coach Randy Waldrum has urged his team to be more clinical in front of goal.

He said this was critical, if they intend to beat their South African counterparts to the final round qualification ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The nine-time African champions pipped Cameroon’s Lionesses 1-0 in a crucial second leg Women’s Olympic football qualifier, after a pulsating encounter in Abuja.

But they could have paid dearly had the visitors nicked an away goal late in the tie.

Nigeria had several chances to kill the game in the first half after enjoying a good start to the encounter.

However, poor finishing from Jennifer Echegini, Rasheedat Ajibade, Toni Payne, and Esther Okoronkwo left Nigeria holding on for dear life after Cameroon gained the upper hand in the second half.

Waldrum told reporters during a post-match conference that his team created alot of chances but failed to make them count, adding that the weather also had an adverse effect on the players.

“In the match we had some chances that we missed and it was a match we really struggled to win.

“You can go back and look at the opportunities that we had. We could have easily finished the game at half time.

“So, we have to be more efficient and clinical around our opponents vital area and convert chances into goals.

“I would have also preferred the match to be played in the night because the weather was hot, but we can’t complain because the players are all Nigerians and are used to it,” he said.

On his tactical approach to the game, he said he ensured that the best 11 started the match at home, adding however that he had confidence in every player, even those that didn’t play the match.

Coach Waldrum made the bold decision to bench Bay FC forward Asisat Oshoala, choosing instead to start Okoronkwo in attack.

Juventus star Echegini also made the starting eleven of the encounter after sitting on the bench from kickoff in the first leg.

It proved to be an inspired decision as both Echegini and Okoronkwo combined to score the decisive goal.

Aside from the goal, the two players were classy with the ball and fought hard without it to make the Super Falcons attack lively in the first half.

Oshoala emerged from the bench in the second half and did her bit, but coach Waldrum would be thanking his stars for going with his gut’s decision to start Okoronkwo.

The coach also said that the team had some players sidelined with injury, saying however that he was hopeful that they would recover before their next game.

“We have some injuries that we must take care of before our next round against Bayana Bayana of South Africa.

“We will get the videos of our next opponent, play it and study it to know how to deal with them,” he said.

The nine-time champions of Africa take on reigning African champions South Africa in the final round fixture in April.

UEFA 2024 Rankings: Man City, Bayern, Real Madrid lead as Chelsea drops

Published

3 hours ago

May 2, 2024

NewsDirect

Premier League champions, Manchester City, currently tops UEFA’s coefficient rankings.

In the latest ranking released by UEFA through their website, Man City is ahead of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, who are in the top three positions.

Chelsea dropped one place when compared to the previous ranking, but still made the top 10 alongside Premier League rivals Liverpool.

Manchester United are outside of the top 10.

Below are the top 20 teams revealed by UEFA:

1.Man City
2.Bayern Munich
3.Real Madrid
4.Paris Saint-Germain
5.Liverpool
6.Inter Milan
7. AS Roma
8.Leipzig
9.Chelsea
10.Dortmund
11.Man United
12.Barcelona
13.Atletico Madrid
14.Bayer Leverkusen
15.Sevilla
16.Villarreal
17.Napoli
18.uventus
19.Benfica
20.Porto

Sports

Vinicius’s double earns Real Madrid 2-2 draw at Bayern Munich

Published

1 day ago

May 1, 2024

NewsDirect

Vinicius Junior scored twice as record winners Real Madrid came away from Bayern Munich with a 2-2 draw in their Champions League semi-final first leg on Tuesday.

The stalemate sets up a mouthwatering second leg in Spain next Wednesday.

Brazil’s Vinicius grabbed the leveller from the spot on 83 minutes after Harry Kane netted a penalty for Bayern on 57 minutes. Vinicius and Leroy Sané had earlier both scored against the run of play either side of the break.

Ex-Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti, sacked in 2017 after 15 months in Germany, is eyeing a fifth Champions League title as a coach and the Real boss will be the happier.

Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel, who leaves at the end of the season after the Bavarians missed out on the Bundesliga title for the first time in 12 years, has never lost a semi-final.

Now he faces a stern test at the Bernabeu next week if he wants to emulate his title success with Chelsea in 2021.

“We made a great start…we should have gone ahead,” Tuchel told Amazon Prime. “You make it 2-1 and then you have chances to score more. But if we win in Madrid we go to Wembley.”

Tuchel was buoyed before kick-off with creative fulcrums Jamal Musiala and Sané passed fit to play and it was Germany winger Sané who had two decent early chances while Musiala also fired over.

LaLiga leaders Madrid had forward Lucas Vazquez as an emergency right back, with Dani Carvajal suspended, while midfielder Toni Kroos faced his former club as Luka Modric began on the bench.

Who else but Kroos popped up out of the blue midway through the first half to play the perfect pass for Vinicius to score.

“There were phases in the game for both teams. The goals sort of fell when the other team was on top,” Kroos said.

Bayern’s Tuchel, widely expected to be replaced by Austria coach Ralf Rangnick from July, reacted by replacing Leon Goretzka with Raphael Guerreiro in midfield at half-time.

But Madrid not Bayern began the second half stronger, Jude Bellingham laying the ball off for Kroos to test the palms of Manuel Neuer.

With the home crowd slightly subdued, Sané cut in from the right and fired inside the near post. It was his first goal since October.

Club top scorers Kane of Bayern and Bellingham of Madrid – both England stars who hope to shine in Germany in June and July’s Euros – went head-to-head and it was Kane who threatened most.

He went close with a free-kick but saw his moment when Musiala danced into the area and Vazquez felled him with a forward’s tackle.

Kane’s superb penalty record since missing in the World Cup quarter-final continued as he struck home soon after Sané’s goal.

Chances at both ends flowed from there on before Bayern defender Kim Min Jae, playing because Matthijs de Ligt was injured, brought down Rodrygo in the box and his fellow Brazilian Vinicius did the honours.

This pairing is the most played duel in the history of the European Cup and Champions League, with 27 meetings now having taken place.

The two teams met in the semi-final in 2012, which Bayern edged on penalties, but the Spaniards triumphed in their most recent last-four clashes in 2014 and 2018.

In Wednesday’s second semi-final, 1997 winners Borussia Dortmund host Paris-Saint Germain, beaten by Bayern in the 2020 final when ex-Dortmund coach Tuchel bossed the Parisians.

Dortmund are in their first semi since 2013, a season which ended with them losing to Bayern in an all-German final at Wembley. A repeat could occur this term, but Tuchel’s men must excel in Madrid.

“It is half-time, it was a very up and own game. it was pretty decent from us today and we’ll see about next week,” Bayern midfielder Konrad Laimer said.

Sports

EPL: David Raya reacts to mistake in Arsenal’s 3-2 win over Spurs

Published

2 days ago

April 30, 2024

NewsDirect

Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya has said that he is open to learning new things through his own mistakes.

Some of such mistakes were prevalent during Arsenal’s 3-2 win against Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday.

Arsenal were 3-0 up in the first half through Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s own-goal and strikes from Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz.

However, Tottenham came back from the break stronger and were handed a way back in the 64th minute when Raya’s attempted lob ended up at the feet of Cristian Romero at the edge of the box.

The Argentine finished off the chance to make it 3-1.Son Heung-min then scored from the penalty spot with three minutes to go in regulation following a foul by Declan Rice on Ben Davies.

However, Mikel Arteta’s side somehow fended their north London rivals off for the remainder of the contest.

Raya told Sky Sports,
“I’ve learnt from making mistakes. If you don’t make mistakes, you don’t learn. It’s a part of football, everybody makes mistakes.

“But the thing [is] when a keeper makes a mistake, it’s a goal, it’s more seen, more talked [about], compared to a striker missing a tap-in or whatever.

“But it’s just part of football and you learn from that. That’s the most important thing – you learn from the mistakes.”