Nigeria had Nnadozie to thank for keeping out the Olympic champions, Canada.
Goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie called it a dream come true after her penalty save from record- breaking thing arranger Christine Sinclair earned Nigeria a 0- 0 draw against Canada at the FIFA Women’s World Cup on Friday.
It meant both sides took a point in their opening match in a tight- looking Group B, which also contains Ireland and co-hosts Australia.
Nigeria, which saw Deborah Abiodun pick up the first red card of this Women’s World Cup in the dying moments in Melbourne, had Nnadozie to thank for keeping out the Olympic titleholders.
The 40- time-old Canada commander Sinclair is hoping to make history by getting the first player to score at six World Mugs.
But having earned the penalty following a VAR check, she missed the chance to reach that corner beforehand in the alternate half when Nnadozie saved her poor spot- kick.
“ It was a great thing moment that we were suitable to at least get commodity and it was a dream come true for me tête-à-tête, ” said the goalkeeper, who was named player of the match.
The 22- time-old Paris FC breach said she wanted vengeance on Sinclair– the each- time top arranger in transnational football– after conceding against the forward preliminarily.
“ When she took the ball, I was like, ‘ Okay, it’s Sinclair again ’, because the last time we played against them, she scored against me.
“ I was veritably angry, and I told myself, this is the occasion to make effects right. ”
Canada has no way gone beyond the semifinals of the Women’s World Cup but is hoping to go deep into this time’s event on the reverse of winning gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
Still, it had a disintegrated figure- up as the platoon hovered to strike over pay, backing and contractual issues.
It’s also missing crucial players due to injury and maybe continues to calculate too heavily on Sinclair.
Nigeria is appearing at its ninth World Cup but was itself bogged in contestation in the figure- up as the platoon disaccorded with its public confederation over lagniappes.
It had indeed hovered to swap its opening game, but Randy Waldrum’s platoon produced a spirited performance that gives it stopgap of matching its run to the last 16 four times ago in France.
Star striker Asisat Oshoala was unfit to shine but the Nigerian defence gave down little against the attack of the platoon ranked seventh in the world.
Abiodun was dismissed deep in cessation time at the end of the game after another VAR review, a unheroic card being upgraded to red.
Renewals showed her catching Ashley Lawrence with her super studs above the ankle in a nasty challenge.
Canada trainer Beverly Priestman refused to condemn Sinclair latterly and said her side must snappily smoke itself off for a meeting with the Irish coming.
“ Christine Sinclair scored numerous, numerous, numerous pretensions for this country and I ’m sure the suckers, the platoon and everyone can forgive missing a penalty kick, ” Priestman told journalists.
“ I suppose penalty kicks are a 50- 50 chance and on this day ‘ Sinc ’ didn’t score.
“ Sinc has high norms and is a bit of a perfectionist but at the end of the day, this platoon and this country love Christine Sinclair further than anything, and so they ’ll rally around her and we ’ll be on and have her ready for the coming game. ”
“ This is tournament football and if I go to the Olympic Games that we won, we started with a draw, and so we ’ve got to move on veritably snappily, ” she said.
“ You can get lost and be really down on that, and of course the platoon and I’m devastated that we didn’t get three points.
“ But at the end of the day, we got one and we took two from another platoon. ”
Australia beat Ireland 1- 0 on Thursday to take early control of the group. Know More Latest Women’s Football News…
