World Cup final rivalry between Nigeria and Germany will be rekindled today as curtains fall on the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Montreal, Canada.
falWhile the Falconets of Nigeria will be seeking revenge against the German machine, having lost in the final of Germany 2010, to the hosts, its opponents will be seeking to consolidate its superiority over the Africans.
Chief Coach of the Falconets, Peter Dedevbo, is confident that his players will lift the trophy this time around, judging from the team spirit.
He said: “Having come this far in this edition of the championship and with the determination on the faces of the players, I have no doubt that we will win the match.
“This team has been together for a long time. They (players) understand one another and are very determined. This present Under-20 team is the baby team of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). They (NFF officials) like the team so much. They know the team can go places and they give us so much encouragement.”
Dedevbo will definitely be relying on the skills of the team’s highest goal-scorer, Asisat Oshoala, for the magic in this final and to win the trophy. She has so far scored seven out of the team’s 15 goals in the championship.
Oshoala, better known to her team-mates as ‘Superzee’, was in truly superlative form last Wednesday evening, conjuring up four goals and two assists as the Falconets overpowered Korea DPR 6-2 in the semi-final match played in Moncton Stadium.
Also expected to deliver the trophy to Nigeria this time around is captain Uchechi Sunday who came in as a substitute in the semi-final match to score the third goal barely a minute on the field.
On the other hand, Germany coach, Maren Meinert, will be relying on her goalkeeper, Meike Kamper, who gave an exceptional performance against France in the second semi- final match which they won 2-1.
“I want to acknowledge what a great team France has and, because of that, it makes me twice as happy to have won today. Our girls gave everything; but in some situations, we got lucky. We were certainly lucky that our goalkeeper gave such an exceptional performance,” said Meinert after the match with France.
The Nigerian girls will be going into the final match with their reputation as fast starters. They had, after all, already provided over recent matches the first and second-earliest goals in the history of the U-20 Women’s World Cup through Courtney Dike and Oshoala.
With less than two minutes into the match against the Korea DPR, the Falconets had claimed the current edition’s third-fastest goal – by Dike from an Oshoala assist.
Uchechi Sunday also re-affirmed her status as the tournament’s ultimate impact substitute, scoring within a minute of coming off the bench for the second successive match.
To reach this stage, Nigeria drew 1-1 with Mexico in their first Group C match; defeated Korea Republic 2-1; came from a goal down to beat England also by 2-1; and demolished New Zealand 4-1 in the quarter-final before drubbing Korea DPR 6-2 in the semi-final last Wednesday.
Germany, on the hand, beat the United States 2-0 in their opening match in Group B; drew 5-5 with China PR; bashed Brazil 5-1 in the last group match before beating hosts, Canada, 2-0 in the quarter-final and France 2-1 in the semi-final.
Definitely, the setting promises to be explosive, thrilling, exciting and entertaining as Germany’s clinical finishing and legendary will make the final a classical one.
Fact file
• Both countries have appeared six times at the championship, with Germany winning the title twice and Nigeria none.
• After failing to advance to the knockout stages at its first two attempts, the Falconets qualified for the quarter-finals in 2006 and 2008, but lost to Brazil and France respectively. The team came of age in the last two tournaments, both times making it to the semi-finals. In Germany 2010, it was beaten just once – in the final by the host, Germany. Two years later, it topped their group and beat Mexico in the last eight, before being beaten by the U.S. in the semi-finals. While the Americans went on to win the tournament, Nigeria lost the play-off to Japan 2-1 to finish fourth.
• At Thailand 2004, now-established senior players, Simone Laudehr and Melanie Behringer, led Germany to the title, with fellow first-team internationals, Alexandra Popp and Dzsenifer Marozsan, helping the side to its second title six years later; this time on home soil. Germany reached the final once more in Japan in 2012, but had to settle for second place after being beaten by the U.S.
• Falconets captain, Uchechi Sunday, was with the Super Falcons at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2011, and was in the U-20 squad when Nigeria finished second at Germany 2010.
• With seven goals to her name at Canada 2014, Oshoala has become Nigeria’s leading U-20 Women’s World Cup scorer. The Falconets’ four-goal heroine, who made five appearances without finding the net at Japan 2012, moved beyond previous record-holders – Desire Oparanozie, Ebere Orji and Cynthia Uwak – all of whom had five, when she completed her hat-trick against Korea. By increasing her tally further, she became the third player in the tournament’s history to score more than three times, following the footsteps of the legendary Christine Sinclair and Kim Un-Hwa, the star of Korea DPR’s 2006 triumph.
• Oshoala is also the new leader in the race to finish as Canada 2014’s top scorer, with a two-goal cushion separating her from Germany duo, Sara Dabritz and Pauline Bremer.