Super Falcons’ coach, Justin Madugu, has disclosed that his first strategy towards winning the 2025 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final on Saturday is to review his team’s performance against South Africa, Sports247 reports.
Madugu admitted his team was not at its best during their semi-final face-off with Banyana Banyana, which the Falcons won 2-1 on Tuesday with a fresh goal scored by Michelle Alozie six minutes into added time.
With the Falcons looking shaky at various points of the game, the South Africans stretched them to the limit and made them concede their first goal of this year’s competition.
Madugu admitted his players were not at their best at crucial points in Tuesday’s clash, hence his decision to study the game all over in order to ensure they do better against Morocco on Saturday in Rabat.
Incidentally, this weekend’s clash with the host country will be the first match for Madugu’s side outside Casablanca, and the soft-spoken gaffer admitted his players will need to quickly correct all errors they committed in the semi-final, which took place at Stade Larbi Zaouli in Casablanca.
Madugu recounted, “There were nerve-wracking moments in the course of that game, and we didn’t do certain things well.
“We lost control of the game at some point, but you need to grind out a result irrespective of how you play or how you get it.”
He concluded by admitting that the end often justifies the means in tough football matches, hence the pass mark he handed his players, even as he pledged to ensure they play better this Saturday in the final.
“The most important thing is to win, which we were able to do. So, we’ll do a review and study everything that happened in the game.
“That will help us to prepare and do more in the final game on Saturday,” the history-chasing, bulky tactician reasoned.
Sports247 notes that Madugu and his players will aim to achieve a record-extending 10th WAFCON title for Nigeria.
That would mark a successful climax to the ‘Mission X’ campaign launched by the country’s football governing body before the nine-time champions flew into Morocco for the championship.
