No Shame In Losing To Nigeria – Algeria Coach

Super Falcons captain, Rasheedat Ajibade scored a first-half brace for Nigeria to defeat Algeria 2-0 at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne, on Saturday.

The Atletico Madrid Feminine forward opened the scoring for Nigeria in the 24th minute, with a superb lobbed finish above the advancing goalkeeper Amel Salah.
 

Then, just before the half-time whistle of referee Christelle Ligan, the Spain-based attacking midfielder collected the ball from Folashade Ijamilusi as Nigeria broke forward, and unleashed a rocket from 22 yards that flew straight into the top corner.
 
Esther Onyenezide missed from close range in the 44th minute, and Ijamilusi was denied by Salah in the 66th and 90th minute.
 
Algeria’s best chance came in the 75th minute, but forward Gladys Ikene saw her effort past the goal after escaping the attention of goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie.

Super Falcons coach, Justine Madugu was impressed with the performances of the home-based players, and also hailed Rasheedat Ajibade for her match-winning performance.

He said: “We are on a rebuilding process and I must say that a good number of the home-based professionals impressed me. Ajibade, as always, led from the front and gave us great balance going forward.
 
“Now, we are looking forward to the encounter on Tuesday to build on what we have been able to do here.”

Algeria coach, Farid Benstiti revealed that the team is not ashamed to lose to Nigeria, admitting that the match helped to improve their cohesion.

He said, “We have a young team and the players are trying to understand each other better with each passing game. We love this type of matches that help our telepathy and cohesion.
 
“Nigeria is a strong team globally and we are not ashamed to lose to them. However, I believe we will have a better game on Tuesday because we have learnt some things here today.”
 
The Super Falcons featured only five foreign-based professionals in the encounter: Chiamaka Nnadozie, Tosin Demehin, Esther Onyenezide, Gift Monday, and Rasheedat Ajibade.