The coach of the Super Falcons, Randy Waldrum has credited his second-half substitutions and half-time team talk for the team’s victory over Australia.
Recall that on Thursday, the Super Falcons of Nigeria stunned the co-hosts of the ongoing 2023 Women’s World Cup by coming from a goal down to beat them 3-2.
The victory at the Lang Park in Brisbane, Australia, pushed the Super Falcons to the top spot in Group B with four points in two games, thanks to superior goals difference from second-placed Canada.
After the first half ended 1-1, coach Randy Waldrum introduced Glory Ogbonna, Onome Ebi, Asisat Oshoala, Jennifer Onyinyechi Echegini, and Esther Okoronkwo into the game in the second half which solidified Falcons’ game.
In his assessment of the game, Randy Waldrum said the Falcons’ swift response after falling behind late in the first half generated confidence in the team, who hung on for a historic win – their sixth at the FIFA World Cup.
The American tactician said, “I think two things happened. One is, after giving up the first goal before halftime, we were able to respond and get it back. I think that was huge from a confidence standpoint. We tried to sort out a little bit of a problem that Van Egmont was causing for us in midfield, finding a lot of pockets of space.
“And then it was just a matter of telling the players, you know, go for it. Don’t be afraid to go out. I think the changes that we made worked out, the subs that we put in changed the game as well.
“I’m so proud of these players because so many people didn’t believe, so many didn’t believe in me, didn’t believe in the team. And the one thing that we’ve done is we’ve talked about believing in each other, and the strength of our success has got to be in the unity of the team.”
Randy Waldrum added, ”And to think that we’ve come in here and gotten two results against two top, top teams in the world says a lot, not only our ability but just the heart and the competitive desire that the team has.
“I told them after the match, ‘Keep believing, right? Keep believing in yourself. Because great things can happen for teams when you fight for each other. It’s not always the best talent that wins.
“You know, sometimes it’s the best team, the team that works best together and we’re enjoying the journey. We know there’s still work to do. So we’ll enjoy it tonight and get our recovery going tomorrow because it was a very, very taxing game on us physically. And then we’ll do our best to get ready for another very good opponent with Ireland.”
