The Super Falcons of Nigeria have qualified for the Round of 16 at the FIFA Women’s World Cup as one of the four best third-placed teams after the conclusion of the group phase.
Nigeria’s place was confirmed following Chile’s 2-0 victory over Thailand on Thursday night. The Falcons would have been eliminated had Chile won by a three-goal margin.
Thomas Dennerby’s team will play two-time world champions, Germany in the second round on Saturday.
Hosts, Brazil were held to a goalless draw by Venezuela in the Copa America on Tuesday.
Brazil made hard work of beating Bolivia in their opener and once again struggled for a creative spark against Venezuela, promoting jeers from the home crowd in Salvador at both half-time and full-time.
They had the ball in the back of the net three times but were denied by the VAR decision.
Despite the draw, Brazil remain top of Group A with four points from two games.
Nigeria will be making a short stop at the Stade Leopold Senghor Stadium in Senegal on Sunday, for their final build-up match, before they turn their attention to the highly anticipated African Cup of Nations campaign, which begins in two weeks. It will also be the last warm-up match for the home side who will be making the trip to Egypt, after successfully qualifying to the final group stages for the third time in a row.
With both teams tipped to top their respective groups, the match on Sunday is sure to be an intense ninety minutes with both the African sides certain to set their eyes on nothing less than the win.
The visitors who are three-time African Cup of Nations Champions, come into the game in Senegal after being held to a 1-1 draw by South Africa, the last time they were on the road. The home side, on the other hand, are currently on a very impressive run of form at home, having staged a very dramatic comeback in their most recent fixture against Mali, where they scored two goals in the last five minutes to take the win.
The hosts Brazil will been keen to kick with a win when they welcome Bolivia to the Estadio Morumbi for the opening game of the Copa America 2019 edition.
The last time their senior team played the home team to an international tournament, ended in extreme disaster, and the wounds are still not healed. The squad needs this title more than they want it, and the pride of the once unconquerable team in world football is in serious jeopardy.
The loss of Neymar may shock any team in the world, but not Brazil though. Such is the abundance of talent in their midst that apparently the loss of a top-three player is not that much of a setback.
Bolivia has been struggling to make any kind of an impact against teams that they took on recently, and in an opener of a major tournament, against the hosts, they are under serious pressure.
Even in the qualification fixtures that determined entrants to the World Cup 2018, the side failed to make any noise. An unimpressive ninth-place finish against these same set of teams will be an indicator about what to expect in the further next month for Bolivia.
The other two teams in the Group A; Venezuela and Peru lock horn on Sunday evening, June 16 2019.
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