Super Falcons to battle hard against Germany
Germany take on Nigeria in the last 16 of the Women’s World Cup. Will the Nigerian heroes be able to match Voss-Tecklenburg’s rampant side? Read our preview here:
Germany making it look easy
The reigning Olympic champions have had absolutely no problems so far in France with three wins from three giving them a comfortable passage into the knockout stages.
The last group game, a 4-0 hammering of error-prone South Africa, typified what can be expected of this classy outfit. It is fair to say that this German side is one in transition, however. They have lost some of experienced campaigners but have more than made up for it with the likes of Wolfsburg’s Alexandra Propp who has led the team superbly well at these finals.
Even though they trashed the South Africans, head coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg expects more going into the last 16.
"The players performed very well. They showed that football can really be very simple sometimes,” she said following the 4-0 win.
"But there were also things I didn't like so much - coaches are never 100% satisfied - and there were moments within the match when we tried to go for the more difficult solution. That's something we can work on.
"But if I didn't have the confidence my players have the capacity to improve in that respect, I wouldn't be so demanding of them."
Nigeria doing the nation proud
Nigeria coach Thomas Dennerby described his players as heroes following their narrow defeat to France in the final group match. A VAR assisted,twice-taken penalty, was enough to see the hosts through but Nigeria worked tirelessly to make their more illustrious opponents sweat on the result.
They are not without class having won 11 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations titles but often have to perform with a side cobbled together at the last minute. This World Cup has shown how well they can compete on the biggest stage of them all.
The Super Falcons were helped by a much better preparation coming into the tournament and it is showing. They got out of a difficult group containing France, Norway and South Korea and now take on a efficient and physically powerful German side.
Star player Asisat Oshoala could be the difference with the former Liverpool and Arsenal forward able to be a match winner having scored seven in seven for Barcelona this season.
Germany vs Nigeria Women’s World Cup betting tip
Germany come into this as hot favourites yet the Super Falcons deserve a huge amount of credit for the way they have worked hard to reach this stage, playing disciplined football. With this in mind backing this one to finish with under 2.5 goals at odds of 7/4 appears to be excellent value.
