Why Super Falcons Missed World Cup Qualification - Madugu

Why Super Falcons Missed World Cup Qualification - Madugu 

By Admin 

Super Falcons head coach Justin Madugu has attributed Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup to missed chances, individual errors and lapses in concentration during their playoff defeat to South Africa in Casablanca, BSNSports.com.ng reports.

The defeat means the Super Falcons will miss the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time since the competition was inaugurated in 1991.

Madugu apologised to Nigerians following the setback, insisting that disappointing the country was never the team’s intention.

He said the Falcons gave their best but acknowledged that their efforts were not enough to secure qualification.

"I will like to apologise to Nigerians over our inability to make it to the World Cup. We are very sorry. It was not our intention. We came, did the best that we could do, but our best wasn’t enough,” Madugu said.

“We are very sorry for that and we take full responsibility for everything that happened.”

According to the coach, the Falcons approached the encounter with the determination to secure victory but failed to make the most of their opportunities, while defensive mistakes allowed South Africa to capitalise.

“We came into the game determined to make sure we gave our all and tried as much as possible to win. From the way the ladies played, they gave it their all too,” he said.

“We had chances, but conversion was another problem and we made some errors at the back. They capitalised on that and got the goals.”

Madugu described the decisive mistakes as individual errors in decision-making and argued that greater concentration and adherence to the game plan could have prevented the outcome.

“It’s something that we really regret. We feel sorry about because it was more of individual errors in decision-making that accounted for what happened.

“We had the game under control and then had a momentary loss of concentration. If we had kept to the game plan, just done the basics and simple things, I think we wouldn’t have found ourselves in this situation.”

Madugu Defends Alozie’s Position

The coach also defended his decision to deploy Michelle Alozie at left-back, pointing to her previous performances in the position.

Madugu noted that Alozie had been named Player of the Match in one of the Falcons’ earlier games, arguing that the problem against South Africa was not her ability to operate in the position but individual positioning and decision-making.

“It’s unfortunate that it had to happen the way it happened. Even in the left-back position, Michelle was given Player of the Match in one of the games we played,” he said.

“Like I said, it’s not about the ability to play in that position, but it had to do with individual positioning and errors. If we take the right decisions and do the simple things that we needed, these things were avoidable.”

‘We Have a Goal-Scoring Problem’

Madugu identified the Falcons’ inability to convert their chances as one of the biggest factors behind their failure to secure a place at the World Cup.

He acknowledged that Nigeria created several opportunities but lacked the clinical finishing required at the highest level.

“Of course, we will say we have a goal-scoring problem because we have not been clinical in front of goal. We create several chances but we are very wasteful with the opportunities that always come our way,” Madugu said.

“If we are clinical in front of goal, we would have scored a lot of goals.”

With their World Cup hopes now over, the Super Falcons will turn their attention to their next assignment — the 2028 Olympic qualifiers, which are scheduled to begin in October.