South African pundit and former Nigerian goalkeeper Idah Peterside believes that if the Super Falcons of Nigeria beat England on Monday, they could reach the final of the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The game against England is expected to be the biggest game for the Super Falcons in the ongoing tournament and a win for the Nigerian team will qualify them for the quarter-finals.
Recall that the Super Falcons have never gone beyond the quarter-finals stage of the World Cup since they went that far in the 1999 edition of the tournament. Hence, they are aiming to do the unthinkable and break the quarter-finals jinx but they have to get the reigning European champions, England, off the road on Monday.
Idah Peterside who is happy that the Super Falcons and South Africa, the reigning African Women’s champions have qualified for the round of 16, said he is not expecting the Nigerian team to beat England.
“African football needed South Africa and Nigeria to advance to the round of 16”, Idah Peterside told Kennis FM.
“I am not expecting us to win because the English side are the best team in this tournament so far. But if we win, we will get to the final. It’s a tough one but you can never know. Look at South Africa against Italy, no one would believe it.”
On the game between South Africa and Italy which gifted the South African team their first-ever Women’s World Cup round of 16 ticket, Peterside hailed Thembi Kgtlana’s injury-time goal that sealed a stunning 3-2 victory for the African side.
“The Italians needed a draw and South Africa needed the win and I think these girls have done well. In the last two games, it’s been quite unfortunate leading 1-0 in the first game and eventually losing 2-1, and the second game leading 2-0 and eventually getting a 2-2 draw,” Idah Peterside said.
“Fantastic goal by (Thembi) Kgtlana, she was calm when the cross came in and she just jabbed it to make it 3-2. I almost ran out of my chair here screaming and shouting.
“The beauty of this is the pitch of women’s football, I think it has grown that men can be tense watching women’s football. It never happened for years.”
