Izuchukwu OkosiNigeria’s Super Falcons have booked their place in the women’s football event of the 2024 Olympics in Paris following the 0-0 draw against South Africa in Pretoria.
By getting one past the Bayana Bayana once again, the team coached by Randy Waldrum will play in Group C of the tournament where they will face Brazil, Spain and Japan.
Prime Business Africa attempts to answer questions on what coach Randy Waldrum did right in the game.
1. Solid defence
From the blast of the whistle, the Super Falcons attacked their hosts but afterwards that was not the blueprint for the rest of the game as the team went defensive.
The Bayana Bayana controlled the tempo of the game for large spells but were wasteful when they got clear sight of the Nigerian goal.
The head coach Waldrum expressed satisfaction after the game with the defensive solidity of his team and harped on the need to improve on that at the Games.
2. Attacking Concession
The head coach Randy Waldrum opted not to start star player Asisat Oshoala yet again in Pretoria after coming of the bench in the first leg at home.
Everyone with Nigerian affiliation expected the Bay FC star to make the stating lineup but the American coach, Waldrum decided to keep the Bayana Bayana team in suspense
3. Supporters were 12th player
Nigerians in South Africa were in their numbers at the game on Tuesday night and their presence made the Nigerian side play with some vigour and were not overly intimidated by the South Africans.
A pocket of fans made their way into the hotel base of the Super Falcons prior to the game where they sang and played musical instruments to lift the spirit of the players.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
