Nine time African champions, the Super Falcons of Nigeria will tonight face host nation France in a make or break fixture at the 28,000 -capacity Roazhon Park in Rennes.
Les Bleues have already qualified for the knockout rounds but the Super Falcons will be looking for a ticket to that corridor.
Ahead of the all important match, head Coach of the team, Thomas Dennerby took his players through a pre-match final training session yesterday at the Stade Edmund Blanchet.
He reiterated that a positive mindset, as well as a calm, collected and surefooted approach can work wonders for the Falcons against the French.
“This is an important match for us and I believe you can rise to the occasion just as you did against the Koreans. The French have a good team but we are also a good squad and I think we can get a result if we have that mindset that it is eleven players against eleven and we stick to our tactics for the day,” he said.
Nigeria’s power-playing trio – Desire Oparanozie, Rita Chikwelu and Francisca Ordega – all must play with caution as they are each on a yellow card and would be ruled out of the Round of 16 if they are cautioned against the Les Bleues.
Yet, the African champions refuse to be bothered by this and captain Desire Oparanozie told thenff.com <http://thenff.com> they know the approach to adopt in Rennes.
“The win over Korea Republic taught us that so much is possible if we put our minds to it and we work hard. There is nothing to fear.
“We will go in there against France and give our best, and we are confident that our best will be good enough to take us to the next round.”
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