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The African giants suffered another loss when they faced the world champions in an international friendly
But Former Nigeria national team coach Austin Eguavoen has praised the Super Falcons despite their 2-1 loss to the United States of America on Tuesday.
It was the second loss for the African nation – after going down 4-0 on September 3 – at the hands of their international friendly rivals, but Eguavoen felt they were compact and displayed a solid game.
The nine-time African champions went down in the 24th minute when Tosin Demehin scored an own goal. Five minutes into the second half, Uchenna Kanu, after a pass from Glory Ogbonna, scored to restore parity at Audi Field in Washington, DC.
However, the United States claimed their lead again in the 66th minute when Rose Lavelle found the back of the net.
"Solid game," Eguavoen, who resigned as Nigeria’s head coach after failing to guide the country to the 2022 World Cup, tweeted. "Kudos to [Randy] Waldrum’s girls for how compact they were today."
To Eguavoen, the display against the United States is a sign of growth by the Nigerian women’s team that finished fourth in the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco.
"What a well-taken curler from Uchenna Kanu as well," added the tactician. "All these against the might of the USWNT. Signs of growth are there.
"Well done."
Apart from a 7-1 win in the first-ever meeting between the teams at the 1999 Women’s World Cup and a 5-0 victory for the Americans in the 2003 World Cup group stage, most of the meetings with Nigeria have been tightly contested.
