By Teddy Nwanunobi
After being stunned by TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) debutants, Malawi, in their Group C opening game on Tuesday night, the defending champions, Nigeria, revived their WAFCON title defence with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Zambia at Al Madina Stadium in Rabat, Morocco.
The record champions, who played most of the match against the Copper Queens of Zambia with 10 women on Saturday night, had suffered a historic upset, when the Scorchers of Malawi produced one of the biggest shocks in WAFCON to beat them 3-2. The goals came from the Chawinga sisters – Temwa scoring twice (73′ and 90+5′) and Tabitha scoring in the 79th minute.
But the Super Falcons responded to their shock opening defeat with a performance built on discipline and resilience to revive their title defence, with veteran striker, Asisat Oshoala, scoring the decisive goal in the eighth minute against Zambia.
Nigeria were forced to protect their lead for more than half the match, after centre back, Oluwatosin Demehin, was sent off in the 40th minute.
Zambia pushed for an equaliser, after the break, but the defending champions held firm to claim three crucial points in Group C.
The result keeps Nigeria’s quarter-final hopes alive after Malawi’s 3-1 victory over Egypt earlier in the day left the champions under even greater pressure.
Daily NewsCraft reports that Nigeria went into the match knowing defeat could leave their campaign in serious danger.
Oshoala’s goal was exactly what Justine Madugu’s side needed in a match they could not afford to lose.
It also forced Zambia, who had hoped to take a major step towards the knockout stage with another win, to chase the game from an early stage.