Coach Randy Waldrum has hailed Ashleigh Plumptre and Ifeoma Onumonu for their impressive debut display for Nigeria against Cote d’Ivoire in the African Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) qualifier match played on Friday.
Nigeria defeated the Ivorians by 2-0, with Plumptre featuring for the entire 90 minutes and showing a star performance.
“I thought that we had a good control of the game, so I am really proud of the players.
“Ashleigh gave a good account of herself and it was really a solid performance,” Waldrum said.
The win over the Lady Elephants was in the first leg match of their final round fixture in the 2022 AWCON qualifiers.
Onumonu on her path, scored twice to give her team a good head start in the pairing despite being without their influential skipper, Assisat Oshoala.
In the match played at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja, saw the Super Falcons go in front from a counter attack on 21 minutes.
French based Esther Okoronkwo set up Onumonu inside the box and the striker showed gratitude with a sweet finish.
In the 56th minute, Onumonu bagged a brace as she lobbed the ball over the Ivorian goalkeeper to double the Super Falcons’ lead, thus winning the game. 4
After the match, coach Waldrum said he was happy with the team’s performance.
“We have Nnadozie, making a huge save at the end, keeping a clean sheet and we all know that it’s very important.
“We are also proud of this lady (Onumonu). This is her first opportunity to come to Nigeria and represent her country and she scored a brace,” Waldrum said.
The coach also added that he was positive ahead of the return leg in Abidjan on Wednesday.
For Onumonu, she was excited to be making her debut, adding that she had always desired to play for the country.
“It’s an honour to play for this team, I have been watching them for years and I dreamt about playing for the Super Falcons and am excited to have scored a brace.
“I really just want to to make impact in this team,” Onumonu added.
Winners of the fixture will qualify for the 2022 AWCON in Morocco in June.
