Super Falcons thrash Equatorial Guinea 9-0, win Antalya tourney

Super Falcons on Tuesday beat Equatorial Guinea 9-0 to emerge champions of the Festival Women’s Cup 2021 Antalya.

In the encounter, Barcelona forward, Asisat Oshoala, scored four goals.

Apart from the Falcons and Equatorial Guinea, Uzbekistan and CSKA Moscow Ladies participated in the competition.

Falcons recorded a maximum of nine points from three matches, scoring 11 goals and conceding none to emerge champions.

Glory Ogbonna opened the scoring for the nine-time African champions in the ninth minute, before captain Oshoala scored two goals from the spot in the 12th and 13th minutes, and then added a third in the 26th minute.

Uchenna Kalu made it 5-0 in the 36th minute, while Eibar forward Charity Adule scored the sixth goal with a fine header three minutes later.

Toni Payne’s 43rd-minute thunderous strike after shielding off two of her opponents gave the Falcons a seven-goal advantage into the half-time break.

Falcons coach Randy Waldrum brought on Gift Monday, Ramat Abdulkareem, Esther Sunday, and Maryam Ibrahim for Chiwendu Ihezuo, Chidinma Okeke, Payne and Kalu, which ensured that all the 23 players for the tournament took part in the encounter.

The Falcons scored two goals in the second half of the match, with substitute Gift of Robo FC, scoring the eighth goal in the 69th minute and Oshoala netting in the ninth and her fourth goal of the game in the 85th minute.

Two minutes later, Equatoguinean defender, Gina, was given the marching orders after a harsh tackle on Ramat Abdulkareem on the left flank.

With the result, the Falcons become the first African team to win the tournament, following three straight wins.

Speaking on the encounter, Oshoala said, “As a team, I’m really happy with the attitude the girls put up in the tournament because we came all out to make sure we had fun.

“Also, we worked very hard. We just want to make sure that we give our best and keep getting good results and goals as much as we can.”