Nigeria players celebrate their victory after the end of the Australia and New Zealand 2023 Women’s World Cup Group B football match between Australia and Nigeria at Brisbane Stadium in Brisbane on July 27, 2023. (Photo by Patrick Hamilton / AFP)The history books are littered with stories of fighters that were derided, written off, and consigned to the footnote of war tales only for them to rise above all odds to emerge heroes of their time.Perhaps, that illustrates the Super Falcons’ story going into the ongoing FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.When the draw for the competition was made and Nigeria was put in the same group with Olympic champions, Canada, better-rated Australia, and the Republic of Ireland, not many people gave the Super Falcons any chance of surviving the group termed “Group of Death.”The reason was simply that even though Nigeria has been in all the Women’s World Cup finals from China ’91 to France 2019, the Falcons had not done anything to suggest they were ready to join the elite class of the game.Before the kickoff of the ongoing showpiece, the Super Falcons’ biggest victories were the 2-0 win against Denmark at the USA ‘99 edition of the championship as well as the 2-0 triumph over the Korea Republic in France 2019.On the flip side, the Super Falcons had suffered some heavy defeats in the World Cup, including the 0-8 loss to Norway at the second edition, Sweden ’95, and the 1-7 thrashing by the USA on home soil in June 1999.Between 1999 and 2011, the Super Falcons were a laughing stock at the World Cup, failing to win a single match in eight games.
Their only victory came in their ninth game, a 1-0 win over Canada in the German City of Dresden, with former African Footballer of