Coach Madugu considers changes after Nnadozie's mistakes

Super Falcons coach Justine Madugu has backed goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie after her mistake in Nigeria’s quarter-final loss to Cameroon. But he admitted he might look at other options before their important 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup play-off against South Africa on Thursday, The PUNCH reports.

Nnadozie has faced criticism after a tough WAFCON campaign. Her positioning has been blamed for some goals Nigeria conceded.

She was criticized after the Falcons lost 3-2 to Malawi in their first group game. Many felt her positioning helped Malawi score all three goals. In the next match, she managed to keep a clean sheet in the 1-0 win over Zambia. But she conceded twice in Nigeria’s 6-2 win over Egypt in their final group match.

More criticism came during Sunday’s quarter-final against Cameroon. Nnadozie failed to cover the goal when Myriam Maéva Nyadjou scored with a stunning free-kick, giving Cameroon a 1-0 win.

Despite this, Madugu said the mistakes of the three-time CAF Women’s Goalkeeper of The Year should not overshadow her talent.

“Chiamaka has been a wonderful goalkeeper, not just for the national team, but also for her club. Anyone can make mistakes at any time. These mistakes can be costly, as it has been for us today, but that’s not to say she’s a bad goalkeeper,” the coach said after the game.

Madugu has other options on the bench, including Nigeria Women’s Football League's best goalkeeper Fatima Oloko and Portsmouth keeper Comfort Erhabor, who has impressed during scouting.

While supporting Nnadozie, Madugu noted that the technical crew would look at all available options before the Falcons face South Africa.

“It’s natural that when things like this happen, we have to do an overall assessment of the team, what went wrong, what we did well, where did we get it wrong,” Madugu said in his post-match comments.

“We have to do an overall assessment and see what we can do in the shortest possible time before the next game against South Africa.

“There’s nothing bad about exploring other players.”

Nigeria’s loss to Cameroon marked the Falcons’ worst-ever finish at the WAFCON. They failed to reach the semi-finals for the first time in the competition’s history.

This defeat also means the 10-time African champions missed out on one of Africa’s four automatic qualification spots for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.

Now, the Falcons must beat South Africa in Casablanca on Thursday to move on to FIFA’s inter-confederation play-offs, planned for November and December. This will give them another chance to qualify for the World Cup.