Nigeria’s Super Falcons defeated Costa Rica 1-0 in their third and final fixture at the 2023 Revelations Cup in Mexico in the early hours of Wednesday, Abbeylivenetwork.com reports.
The nine-time African champions had lost their two previous games against hosts, Mexico, and Colombia 1-0 respectively.
The loss to the Colombians marked the seventh successive defeat of the team coached by Randy Waldrum.
However in their last game at the Leon Stadium, Esther Okoronkwo’s brilliant goal was all the team needed to put some respectability to their participation.
Concluye el primer partido de la jornada 3 de la TV4 Women’s Revelations Cup⚽️? @fedefutbolcrc @NGSuper_Falcons
Nigeria ?? 1-0 Costa Rica ?? pic.twitter.com/dzqWSZKgt4
— Revelations Cup México (@RevCupMexico) February 22, 2023
Dominating their opponents with their physicality and intelligence, Nigeria missed several goalscoring chances before the breakthrough arrived on the stroke of halftime.
Young midfielder Jennifer Onyi Echegini, who had been involved in a lot of Nigeria’s fine attacking play, wriggled her way to the baseline before sending a cross to the back post, where Esther Okoronkwo lurked.
Okoronkwo steadied herself with a composed first touch before curling the ball past the goalkeeper into the far post.
Ihezuo, Kanu, and Ajibade all had opportunities to extend Nigeria’s lead after the break. Still, poor finishing ensured that Costa Rica were a goal away from drawing the game until the final whistle.
The Falcons will feature in another invitational tournament in Turkey in April as part of preparations for this year’s women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Randy Waldrum’s side are drawn with Australia, Canada and debutant Republic of Ireland.”
