Germany head coach Kathrin Peter has said her side deserved to beat the Falconets of Nigeria in their Group D clash at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
The former champions recorded a 2-1 victory over Chris Danjuma’s side.
Alara Sehitler scored the curtain raiser for Germany on 17 minutes.
Chris Danjuma’s side levelled through Chiamaka Okwuchukwu five minutes after the break.
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Germany however regained the lead 11 minutes later courtesy of Sofie Zdebel’s fine strike.
Substitute Sarah Ernst added the third in stoppage time.
Peter, who has kind words for their opponent claimed they are worthy winners.
“It was a really tough match today. That was expected, but we actually had big problems in defence,”she told FIFA.com.
“They had a few chances where we had the necessary luck, we have to admit that. But in the second half we were really good and asserted our dominance and I think we deserved to win in the end.”
By Adeboye Amosu
9 Comments
The Falconets are a talented side but I think the problem is that of coaching.
The goalkeeper is not good enough. I don’t think she is better than the two reserved goalkeepers. One of them, Omilana is definitely better than her. I expected the coach to have moved Imuran to the left full back and change the captain. The Germans’ took advantage of her and got their 2nd and 3rd goal from her wing.
I expected much from this coach but his line ups seems to be strange for me. I don’t understand how Mbechi is in bench for an unknown Shuku something. Playing Floruish at Rw instead of LW where she is unplayable. He needs to stop playing Imuran at the wings he should rather play her close to the box as a false 9 with Ajankaye starting in place of those NkU nonsense. What is this coach doing or is he dating the girls???
Lol… you can’t blame the coach, man. Some of you guys are funny. The girls created at least 10 goal-bound chances in that match, and it was against a team like Germany! They should take responsibility for the loss—they need to show more character in front of goal. The only thing I would blame the coach for is the goalkeeper. Are you telling me that, in all of Nigeria, he couldn’t find a better U-20 goalkeeper than her? Come on!
I really don’t understand this shsrp criticisms of Coach Chris Danjuma in this tournament. I genuinely think he has done well enough thus far.
I still harbour doubts as to whether he can lead the team to a podium finish in Columbia however, things are looking very promising indeed.
Against teams like Germany yesterday, I had no problem with his utilitarian, functional and practical brand of football. This is a personal opinion: I now no longer expect Danjuma’s team to play with the sort of imagination, swagger, dynamism and tactical acumen displayed by the Germans. What I think Danjuma expected of his girls to stay resolute, pay attention to positional details, break with speed and shore up the back all within the framework of a less tactical yet practical, direct and shrewd brand of football.
And the Falconets almost pulled it off!
Germany were carved open, repelled and frustrated in various phases of the game. There were some periods of neat passing interplays with some dangerous crosses delivered from the right flank.
Sadly, some of the strikers were criminally wasteful. The left side of defensive midfield and left fullback areas are glaringly dangerous weak points for Danjuma to urgently address. Long balls from defence to attack need to be better.
In all, I think Danjuma has assembled players skilled enough to produce success and propel the team far within the framework of his direct,
utilitarian and functional brand of football.
If you are seeking dynamism in play, then you’ve come to the wrong place.
I don’t see this team going beyond the quarters period. individual quality alone don’t always win you trophies especially if the clarity of the details of play are unclear to the players which is why I see a mixture of agricultural and neat football from them girls and it always breaks down due to a confusion on how to approach play plus when I mentioned DETAILS I’m wondering how that goalie makes a starting lineup if she has chinks in her game and why there’s an apparent failure to address a particularly glaring issue at left back.
Even if you’re going to play direct balls over the top then the details has to be clear to all and sundry simple.
I must admit Danjuma has players good enough to go all the way in Colombia despite coming short against favourites Germany.
Losing in a second game could be a blessing because you have a second chance to address grey areas,though only if the coach could see and address these grey areas.Sometimes,the fans sees better because these coaches may be emotionally involved in some players,so dropping them to the bench becomes a problem in this situations
Teams captain Ihegbulam shouldn’t start games.Her performance was god-awful!She is not skilled enough and has no football knowledge,wondered how she made the roster shocking!
Other grey areas were central defenders dealing with crosses and preventing crosses.The goalkeeper is terrible!She should be dropped!Faith Omilana should start in her place,unless she’s not in form.Finally they should improve in the final third,knowing when to release the ball and passing to a better positioned player instead of selfishly wanting to score even when not in a better position.
These are my findings and I’m sure Danjuma could see better and I hope he’s able to address these concerns,if he does,his team should be flying.
Meanwhile,German players last night weren’t better than our girls,rather they were more organised and well coached.That clearly was the difference…
At youth level, coaching makes all the difference. Unless you have players like Messi or someone like Osimhen in your team. So, it’s really a problem on our hands with Danjuma proving that he is not a good coach with this kind of output from the players.
The captain doesn’t deserve to be in the team and all the forward players are selfish and indiscipline. So, its really a conundrum for Nigeria in the competition.
Josh Men! You are spot on. This coach is crap. You are the only one who makes me comment on Nigerian football these days.
Exactly bros, we should have brought along the coach that we had at the Olympics…oh, wait! LOL!!