Despite grabbing a slim win against Botswana in their second game at the Women's African Cup of Nations, the Super Falcons have come under fire from Nigerians, for a performance below expectations.
The Mares of Botswana proved to be a hard nut to crack, as they deployed a low-block, and frustrated the Super Falcons for majority of the game, until Chiwendu Ihezuo got on the end of a ball from Esther Okworonkwo to give the Falcons the late win.
Michelle Alozie was on for the entire duration of the game, and she gave her thoughts on the team's performance.
"It definitely isn't the game that we wanted. We know we can play much better than that. And it definitely wasn't a Nigerian standard for us. I'm glad that, you know, our substitutes came in and made a difference with Esther and Chi, but it definitely wasn't good enough and we have to do better for the last game of the group stage."
Michelle was also asked about getting the results despite the below-par performance, and she answered;
"It's all about just how we are as Nigerians. We have to play our standard. We can't go down to the team that we're playing. And so, Botswana came out tough, and we need to stay true to us and come out harder and put more goals away. It wasn't good enough for us."
On if the win against Botswana was worth celebrating, Alozie stated;
"I mean, we're not here to win against Botswana, we're here to win the cup. So this is just one game, and we have a couple more to go."
The Super Falcons will now look to build on their performance against Botswana, when they take on the Fennecs of Algeria in their last group game.