BY Idris Shehu
Super Falcons of Nigeria were beaten 2-0 by their Japanese counterpart in a friendly game on Thursday morning.
The match played at the Noevir Stadium in Kobe, Japan served as both teams’ preparation for next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.
However, the Falcons were outplayed and overrun by the former World champions, who dominated the game from the first whistle.
Chiamaka Nnadozie, Falcons’ shot-stopper, earlier made a couple of successive saves in the first half of the game to keep the Japanese at bay.
Nigeria could have taken a surprise lead late in the first half when a free-kick from Ashleigh Plumptre struck the woodwork.
Upon the resumption of the second half, Japan wrestled back control of the game and stamped their dominance with two quick goals from Mina Tanaka.
The first was in the 65th minute after a freekick was clipped behind the Falcons’ defence line and Tanaka had the time and space to calm the ball on her chest before slotting it past Nnadozie’s stretched limbs at the near post.
The second came just three minutes later, as Tanaka rammed the ball into the net from the spot after an infringement against Nigeria.
The defeat in Kobe was the Falcons’ seventh in 2022 from 13 games.
The team came into the game on the back of a 6-1 aggregate defeat to the United States in a double-header clash in September.
Nigeria lost thrice at the 2022 African Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) to South Africa in the group stage, Morroco in the semi-final, and Zambia in the third-place match.
The Randy Waldrum-led side also lost to Canada in Vancouver earlier in the year.
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