Randy Waldrum has expressed his appreciation with Nigeria’s performance against the United States of America, despite losing 2-0.
Lifted by their 3-3 draw with Portugal the last time out, the African side came into the encounter with the ambition of achieving another positive result.
However, they bowed to the four-time Women’s World Cup winners with goals from Christen Press and Lynn Williams settling the encounter at the Q2 Stadium, Austin, Texas.
In his post-match assessment of his team’s outing, the 64-year-old claimed the Super Falcons put up an impressive shift against Vlatko Andonovski’s women.
“I am proud of that performance, we obviously had to defend more because we were playing against the United States of America,” Waldrum said on the Super Falcons Instagram handle.
“They are a few weeks away from the Olympics and they are in top form, while our team is just beginning.
“However, the professionalism of these players throughout the entire tournament is something that I am extremely proud of.
“We gave a goal up in the 46th minute and a goal late in the 94th minute against a top team in the world. So, I’m extremely pleased with them.”
Houston Dash’s Michelle Alozie put up an impressive display that saw her keep veteran forward Megan Rapinoe under proper check.
Thanks to her performance, the 24-year-old defender earned a rave review from the University of Pittsburgh and Trinidad and Tobago handler.
“I think she did a good job and I feel they were really trying to isolate Mitchell a little bit,” he continued.
“They didn’t attack the right side nearly as much as they attacked Mitchell’s side. And I thought, for the most part, she held them in check there. She is a good young player.”
Commenting on the performance of Asisat Oshoala, Rasheedat Ajibade and Francisca Ordega, Waldrum said: “It is a difficult game to attack in because they have so much possession and we were defending for so long.
“Having said that, I think we had a couple of opportunities.”
While Nigeria return home to step up preparations for October’s Africa Women Cup of Nations qualifier against Ghana, the USA will face Mexico in Connecticut on July 1 and July 5 respectively before departing for the Tokyo Olympics.
