Waldrum blames Falcons flop on poor preparation

Super Falcons coach Randy Waldrum has blamed the team’s exit from the women’s football event of the Paris 2024 Olympics on poor preparation, Nigeria were knocked out of the tournament in the group stage on Wednesday after a 3-1 defeat to Japan, ending the phase without a win, having lost their first two matches to Brazil and Spain, 1-0 on both occasions.
Japan raced to a 2-0 lead within 10 minutes, with goals from Maika Hamano and Mina Tanaka before Jennifer Echegini handed the Super Falcons a lifeline with the first half winding down.
But there was still enough time for Hikaru Kitagawa to restore Japan’s two-goal lead before halftime with an exquisite free kick.
Nigeria needed to win by at least two goals to have any hope of reaching the quarterfinals, but they couldn’t do enough against the 2011 World Champions as their performances in the first two games proved to be better.
Nigeria’s best outing so far at the Women’s Olympic football tournament was in Athens 20 years ago, where the Falcons finished in 6th place after exiting the tournament in the quarterfinals.