SUPER Falcons players were psychologically overwhelmed against the Banyana Banyana of South Africa on Tuesday, according to Florence Omagbemi.
The head coach of the Nigeria female football team said this during the press conference that followed the semi-final match of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations between Nigeria and South Africa.
However, she has assured that same will not repeat itself when the defending champions play hosts Cameroon, in the final on Saturday.
“The players carried the game too much and psychologically some of them were overwhelmed. In the second half, we asked them to relax and play simple,” Omagbemi said.
But she added that “it will prepare us for the final against Cameroon and we will try to make some adjustments.”
She also gave kudos to the Banyana Banyana, for giving her side “a good game,” on a day she said even the Falcons knew they played below expectation.
Nigeria face Cameroon in the final of the 10th edition of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. The Lionesses defeated the Black Queens of Ghana 1-0 in the first semi-final.
But the head coach of Cameroon had earlier anticipated a Cameroon-Ghana fixture in the final.
Enow Ngachu, during the press conference that followed her side’s semi-final match, had made reference to the fact that anytime the championship is held in Central Africa, the Super Falcons never play in the final. That was, perhaps, an insinuation that they would not make it against South Africa.
“If statistics is anything to go by, Nigeria has never played the final when the competition is played in Central Africa. We know how to handle pressure,’’ Ngachu had said.
Another Central African country – Cameroon – is hosting the current edition.
The Nigeria-South Africa match was played hours after Ngachu’s statement. Equatorial Guinea, a central African country hosted the only two editions Nigeria have failed to win the African women’s championship out of the previous nine.
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