Mission X is on: Rinsola Babajide was the hero as Nigeria’s Super Falcons brushed their Tunisian counterpart aside in an impressive 3-0 victory in Casablanca to get their historic Mission X, a campaign for a tenth Women’s AFCON title, underway on Sunday evening.
Goals from Asisat Oshoala, Rinsola Babajide and Chiwendu Ihezuo sealed the result for Magudu Justin’s side, who never looked in any danger whatsoever over the course of the game.
It was the second meeting between the two countries in the Women’s AFCON finals, with their first coming in the 2008 edition, where it finished goalless in a second group game at the Estadio La Libertad in Equatorial Guinea.
This time, the West African made no mistakes, and get the party started early. Inspired by Rinsola Babajide, the former UD Tenerife forward, who is on the verge of joining Atlético Madrid, teed up Asisat Oshoala for the opener less than four minutes into proceedings.
Her excellently delivered free-kick from the left was guided beyond Tunisia goalkeeper, Soulaima Jebrani, and into the back of the net by the header of Oshoala, who has now scored in four different editions of the Women’s AFCON.
As the first half drew to a close, Nigeria struck again, and this time it was the provider who turned goalscorer. Rinsola picked up possession in the penalty area following a Tony Payne deflected pass.
The 27-year-old then took a couple of touches to fend off her markers before unleashing a ferocious low drive into the bottom corner to double the nine-time winners of the tournament’s lead.
The former Liverpool player celebrated the goal by paying tribute to the Red’s former forward, Diogo Jota, who alongside his brother, Andre Silva, passed away a few days ago in an unfortunate car crash.
Nigeria thought they scored again yet in the added minutes of the first-half via Ashleigh Plumptre, who returned to the squad ahead of the tournament was denied by the VAR, as her effort was ruled out for a foul.
Tunisia had a penalty awarded midway through the second half, but a chance to halve the deficit was overturned by the VAR, due to a foul in the build-up to Osinachi Ohale’s challenge in the area.
With six minutes remaining, substitutes Chiwendu Ihezuo and Esther Okoronkwo combined for the third goal. Ihezuo slammed home the finish from Esther’s head down, rounding off Nigeria’s dominance and sealing a statement victory to get Mission X underway.
The latter was award the official player of the match award for her impressive display having came on at the interval to replace the impressive Rinsola Babajide.
What It Means for Mission X
This victory is a confident boost for the nine-time champions, whose dominance of the African continent has been threatened in recent years. It announces their intentions, that they are here to extend their legacy.
Although the power of Tunisia pale in comparison to their main rivals for glory, the result, and the way they dominated the game matches their intentions, and that alone is a worry for the likes of South Africa, Zambia, and Morocco.
With Mission X in full swing, Nigeria now sets sights on their other games in Group B, where they’ll face Botswana next, and later Algeria. If this opening display is anything to go by, the Super Falcons looked determined to write history in Morocco.
Kehinde-Hassan Afolabi
