Thomas Dennerby, Head Coach of Nigeria’s Super Falcons, says his team is yet to get to the level he expects at the ongoing 2018 African Women Cup of Nations, AWCON.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Falcons beat Zambia 4-0 on Wednesday in Cape Coast to return to contention at the tournament in Ghana.
The performance did take the defending champions to the position of being able to fight for one of the two semi-finals tickets from Group B.
However, it was still a performance Dennerby was not satisfied with, saying his team should have done better and scored more goals.
“First of all, I am very happy we managed to score four goals in the game. Of course I am happier than three days ago.
“But, honestly, I am not 100 per cent happy with our performance because we should have scored more goals.
“After our opening game in which we lost, I talked about being professional and using experience to come back in the next game, not being anxious,’’ he said.
The coach said the win over Zambia was still not enough to take his team out of the woods, pointing out that they needed to work harder.
“I don’t think this game we won today (Wednesday) is the defining game in the group, and now we have to work harder in our next fixture so as to secure a place in the semi-finals.
“So, we stay cool and keep working,’’ Dennerby said.
The Falcons take on Equatorial Guinea on Saturday in their final Group B match, needing to win with a massive haul of goals if they are to top the group.
With South Africa thumping Equatorial Guinea 7-1 later on Wednesday in the group’s other match, Nigeria dropped into second place from the top they occupied earlier.
However, Friday’s matches still hold so much impact on semi-final qualification, with the trio of Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia very much in the race.
While South Africa look to have the easiest task on Saturday, a 0-3 loss to Zambia and a 2-0 win over Equatorial Guinea by Nigeria can undo many things.
It can see the Banyana Banyana dropping to third and missing qualification, with Nigeria in top place and Zambia as runners-up.
READ ALSO: SUPER FALCONS TROUNCE ZAMBIA
But South Africa only need to avoid defeat, or a 0-3 loss, to finish among the semi-finalists.
Nigeria and Zambia must win, and with 2-0 and 3-0 scorelines respectively, to be semi-finalists.
Nigeria need to win at least 1-0 against two-times champions Equatorial Guinea to finish among the top two, if South Africa beat or draw with Zambia.
But, in case of a Zambia win, Nigeria will need a bigger win against Equatorial Guinea who have beaten them to the title twice in the past (2008 and 2012).
However, the Falcons look to be in a better shape to win this time around against the team they beat to the title in 2010.
HOW THEY STAND
Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
South Africa 2 2 – – 8 1 +7 6
Nigeria 2 1 – 1 4 1 +3 3
Zambia 2 1 – 1 5 4 +1 3
Equatorial Guinea 2 – – 2 1 12 -11 0
