Assisat Oshoala: After firing blank in Super Falcons’ first two games against the Banyana Banyana of South Africa and Shepolopolo of Zambia, the reigning African Women’s Footballer of The Year proved her worth by grabbing a hat-trick in the 6-0 win against Equatorial Guinea.
Oshoala was also deservedly named woman of the match in the game.
Oshoala reiterates that though she enjoys the accolades for scoring a hat trick after missing glaring chances in the team’s first two games.
“It is a very good feeling to get three points obviously that’s the most important thing. I’m also happy to be on the score sheet. I’ve been working so hard, so I think I deserve this and I’m grateful to my teammates for the work everyone put in and the determination even after losing the first game to South Africa,” Oshoala said during a post-match interview in Cape Coast Ghana.
“We didn’t give up, we spoke to ourselves and told ourselves we need to show that we are champions. I think we’ve actually improved so far and today was a great outing for us.
For a player who was widely criticised, especially for her wastefulness against the Zambians, it is safe to say, she is definitely hit a resurgent form.
The Super Falcons, no doubt, have truly recovered from that shocking defeat to South Africa in their first game. Though there is still room for improvement, the Super Falcons showed more cohesion and understanding in their game.
But despite scoring six goals, the Super Falcons still wasted a number of clear cut opportunities in the game which would have made the scoreline more massive.
Persist is one key area the handler of the team, Thomas Dennerby needs to work on especially with the competition now in the knockout stages. One can only hope they will get better and better as they advance in the tournament.
