After waiting for days that seemed an eternity, Nigeria’s senior national female football team, the Super Falcons, Thursday, finally qualified for the knockout stages of the ongoing women’s World Cup in France.
The Super Falcons scaled through to the Round of 16 by the skin of the teeth, qualifying from their group as the last of the best third place losers. Brazil, China and Cameroun had earlier qualified as the three third placed teams.
With the three having their qualification tickets in their kitties, Super Falcons, and indeed all Nigerians, were hoping and praying that Chile should not beat Thailand with three goals in Rennes.
The god of soccer smiled on them and answered their prayers, restoring hope.
Not even Chile’s 2-0 drubbing of Thailand at the Roazhon Park arena in Rennes was sufficient to stop the Nigerians from claiming the last spot among the four best third-placed teams, on superior goals scored.
The qualification ended their 20-year wait to break the knockout stage jinx since 1999.
It is also the first time that two African nations reached the knockout stages since the inception of the showpiece in 1991.
Since the Super Falcons made it to the quarter finals at the 1999 edition in the United States, the team had never gone beyond the group stage of the global football fiesta.
The African champions had lost 3-0 to Norway in Reims, but defeated South Korea 2-0 in Grenoble, before bowing to Les Bleues 0-1 in their final Group A match in Rennes.
Having secured their passage to the knockout stage, the Africans will face Group B winners and former champions Germany in Grenoble on June 22.