Montserrat Tomé, head coach of Spain’s women’s national team, expressed worry over Nigeria’s physical strengths ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics clash between the Super Falcons and La Roja on Sunday, July 28.
Drawn in Group C of the women’s football tournament at the Olympics, FIFA’s top-ranked women’s team Spain kicked off their campaign with a 2-1 win over Japan on Thursday, July 27, at the Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes. The reverse was the case for nine-time African champions Nigeria, who lost 1-0 to Brazil in their opener at the Matmut Atlantique Stadium in Bordeaux on the same day.
A win for Spain over Nigeria on Sunday in matchday two will invariably seal their advancement to the next stage, while Nigeria’s hopes of qualifying out of the group would be hanging by a thread.
Speaking ahead of the decider at the Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes, Tomé said the Super Falcons’ physical approach will be tough for La Roja to handle, while also acknowledging the threats posed by Rasheedat Ajibade and Chiamaka Nnadozie.
“They are a physically very strong rival, who will take everything to individual and physical duels,” the 42-year-old said, per Marca.
“It will be very different from Japan because they will let us play less. We have studied them well and I would highlight that they play a lot on the left side, where there is an Ajibade that we know well, and that they have a goalkeeper, Nnadozie, who has a fairly long serve and is quite good.”
Meanwhile, Falcons midfielder, Jennifer Echegini, had earlier expressed her dissatisfaction with the misconception that Nigerian footballers rely solely on physical abilities.
The Paris Saint-Germain new signee found the tag limiting the ability of African footballers, in a generation where they also passed through the same development training as their European counterparts.
“I feel like as a Nigerian or any other African team, they underestimate our football ability and they kind of just base us off strength and speed,’’ Echegini said. “We’re not just that, you know? A lot of us grew up playing the same way as those England girls or the Dutch girls, so it’s kind of funny when people say we’re just speed and strength. We went through the same process growing up, we just chose to represent the Nigerian team.”
Sunday’s clash will be the first-ever meeting between La Roja and the Super Falcons.
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