Super Falcons coach, Justine Madugu may not be charismatic like other coaches. Still, he turned out to be the one who saw tomorrow with his predictions and analysis of the Super Falcons as they came back from the ‘dead’ to maul Morocco 3-2 to lift their 10th title of WAFCON.
The man who had been on the hot seat had displayed an uncommon faith in the players and in his strategy, despite the pressure; he continued to tell everybody to ‘calm down’.
Super Falcons coach, Justine Madugu may not be charismatic like other coaches. Still, he turned out to be the one who saw tomorrow with his predictions and analysis of the Super Falcons as they came back from the ‘dead’ to maul Morocco 3-2 to lift their 10th title of WAFCON.
The man who had been on the hot seat had displayed an uncommon faith in the players and in his strategy, despite the pressure; he continued to tell everybody to ‘calm down’.
“We knew we could do it. When we were two goals down, we kept encouraging the players not to lose their confidence. If they didn’t have that mental resilience, they would have given up. We did a lot of talking at halftime,” he said.
The coach further explained that their initial game plan backfired, leading to the early goals conceded, but swift tactical adjustments made the difference.
“We had a game plan, but what we wanted to avoid led to the two goals, so we had to make the necessary changes,” Madugu added
Irrespressible Esther Okoronkwo who made her debut in Morocco and became the livewire of the team with her menacing runs and distribution of the balls that caused panic at the opponent’s backline, has hailed the resilience of the team.
‘’It’s my first time with the team but we struck the right cord from the first training. The girls had confidence and insisted that they were going for the trophy. Even when we were down, we talked to ourselves and agreed to work for each other. Unity to be real must stand the severest strain without breaking. Truly, unity remained our strongest weapon and it paid off. I’m so happy. Credit must be given to our coach who treated us like his daughters and impacted on us’’.
Alozie Mitchell, the medical researcher who plays for the Houston Dash in the NWSL and accounted for Nigeria’s winning goal against South Africa’s Banyana Banyana in the semifinals said that the Nigerian never-say-die spirit propelled them to achieve what people consider as impossible. ‘’There’s nothing that a Nigerian wants that he/she cannot achieve. It has been a positive force that drove us to achieving the ultimate.
