Nigeria will tackle South Africa in a cracker of a match in Pretoria on Tuesday night with the mindset of sustaining a record of never having lost to South Africa in that country in senior women’s football.
The gap has become much closer since 19th March 1995, when the Super Falcons humiliated the Banyana 7-1 in front of their fans in Johannesburg in a 1995 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifying match. Yet, the fact remains that the Banyana are still looking for a first win over the Falcons in any match played in South Africa.
In 24 previous encounters (with seven played in South Africa), Nigeria have won 15, with five ending in draws and South Africa winning on four occasions. One of the drawn games was the final match of the 11th Women Africa Cup of Nations, which Nigeria eventually won 4-3 after a penalty shootout in Accra.
South Africa’s four wins have been in Bata, Equatorial Guinea (1-0, 2012 Women AFCON); Cape Coast, Ghana (1-0, 2018 Women AFCON); Lagos, Nigeria (4-2, Aisha Buhari Cup) and; Rabat, Morocco (2-1, 2022 Women AFCON).
Of the seven previous encounters inside South Africa, Nigeria has won five, drawing two. The only times the Banyana have been able to hold the Falcons in South Africa were on 12th March 2004 (Athens Olympics qualifier which ended 2-2) and a friendly match on 3rd June 2012 that ended 1-1.
The Super Falcons’ delegation for Tuesday’s all-important match arrived in Pretoria on Monday morning, and have settled down in their hotel ahead of their official training at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Tuesday night.
Tuesday’s match will kick off at 7.30 pm South African time (6.30 pm Nigeria time).
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Nigeria’s last two goals against the Banyana have been scored by captain Rasheedat Ajibade. She got the consolation goal in the 2-1 defeat by the arch-rivals in Rabat on 4th July 2022, and also converted the penalty that accounted for the win over the visitors in Abuja on Friday evening.
