Poor performance of the Nigerian women national team, the Super Falcons, in recent international competitions continued Wednesday at the on-going African Women's Championship.
The five times African champions only managed a goalless draw against a relatively unknown Tunisian side at the tournament holding in Equitorial Guinea.
According to a report on the Guardian, Wednesday's result has put Nigeria in a tight corner with just two points from two matches.
It may have also prompted the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to have a second thought on the proprietary of allowing coach Joseph Ladipo to continue handling the team after the Beijing Olympic Games, where Nigeria failed to make the second round.
The Falcons had on Sunday escaped a defeat by Ghana Black Queens in a game it struggled to pull 1-1 with the West Africans. In fact, Nigeria equalized in that game on the dot of 90 minute.
Super Falcons put every foot wrong in Wednesday's game, with two times African Footballer of the Year, Cynthia Uwak and Perpetua Nkwocha playing far below the expectations of the fans.
With this poor result, the Nigerian girls now have an uphill task of beating Banyana Banyana of South Africa in its last group match on Saturday to ensure qualification from the group.
The South Africans had earlier Wednesday caused a major upset by beating one of the group favorites, Ghana's Black Queens, 1-0 to qualify for the semi final. That was after beating Tunisia 2-1 last Sunday to move to the top of the group.
Signs that the Falcons might fail its teeming fans started appearing soon after the commencement of the match, when the duo of Maureen Eke and Nkwocha could not make use of a golden opportunity provided by the Tunisia keeper, Bakouch Dhouha, who made a faulty clearance in the 14th minute.
Apart from midfielder Effioanwan Ekpo, who had a good game Wednesday, every other member of the squad played far below the expectations of the people.
Meanwhile South African coach, Augustine Makalalane, has vowed to add to the problems of the Super Falcons when their teams meet on Saturday in their last group match here in Bata.
Ghana and Tunisia will today leave Bata for Malabo, just as Cameroun and Congo are expected to relocate to Bata from Malabo for their last group match.
Hosts Equatorial Guinea sit atop Group A with six points from two games after beating Congo 5-2 on Tuesday, while Cameroon managed to outscore Mali 2-1 to get three points.
Source: Xinhua
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