It was third time lucky for Nigeria, who once again made their way into the knockout stages of the Women's Africa Cup of Nations after losing their opening game, although this time, it was a properly nervy for the 10-time champions.
A convincing 6-2 win over Egypt saw the Super Falcons finish on six points, tied with Malawi and Zambia, but the multiple champions squeaked through in second place by virtue of scoring more goals (3) than Zambia (2) in their three-team mini-league. Malawi won the group by scoring 4 goals in that assessment.
Going into the games, CAF's convoluted head-to-head rules meant that, except for Egypt, who had already been eliminated, all three teams could potentially be eliminated by the end of the day, with a Zambia win over Malawi.
Nigeria needed to win against Egypt, by any margin, but their progress would depend on the margin of a Zambia victory over Malawi. A high-scoring single goal margin of victory by the Copper Queens, from 4-3 and above, would eliminate the Super Falcons. For Malawi, a two goal victory by Zambia would be enough to send them home.
With defender Tosin Demehin and midfielder Jennifer Echegini suspended, Justin Madugu handed their first tournament starts to Rinsola Babajide and Toni Payne, left Asisat Oshoala as starting striker and restored Shukurat Oladipo ahead of Rofiat Imuran.
Nigeria found their breakthrough after 20 minutes when Oshoala's shot was diverted by Nour Abdelwahed's handball. The forward stepped forward and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to open the scoring for Nigeria.
Substitute Gift Monday, on for the injured Oshoala just before halftime, doubled the advantage. But Egypt won a penalty of their own when Michelle Alozie gave away a foul in the box to Yassmin Mohamed and Nadine Ghazy sent Chiamaka Nnadozie the wrong way.
Substitute Uchenna Kanu restored the advantage with her first touch in the second half, and Nigeria then converted back to back penalty kicks, although not before Egypt got themselves a second with an excellent Ghazy strike.
In the end, the 6-2 score was gloss which did little to affect how the teams finished on the standings, but the Super Falcons advanced to the quarterfinal, where they will face familiar foes Cameroon, for a place in the semifinal, and a FIFA Women's World Cup ticket.
Super Falcons still far from their best
A cursory glance at the scoreline and the match stats, would show that the Super Falcons dominated this meeting. With Egypt rarely venturing forward, the Super Falcons spent most of the game camped in the opposition half, and the majority of that in the final third.
At half time, Nigeria bossed possession 57% to 43%, outshot Egypt 14-2 and had 205 passes to Egypt's 169. The dominance could not be more stark.
But the overall play still looked disjointed, the passes were mostly unconnected and there was something of a staid, nervy feel about the way the team played.
There were also mistakes at the back, including within the opening minute when Nnadozie was left exposed to a shot by Ghazy, and the two that led to the Egypt goals.
First, Alozie's decision to lead with her elbow when it was clear that Mohamed was going nowhere and had no chance at winning that ball in the box, and then four defenders leaving Ghazy free to take a potshot at Nnadozie for the second goal was unforgivable.
After three games, the Super Falcons are not exactly looking like a championship team. They upped their game and looked as unyielding as they were dogged in a hard-fought win over Zambia. But they still appear to be running on fumes and will need to improve significantly to beat Cameroon and seal their World Cup qualification.
Six goals, six different scorers
It is rare to find a team score six goals without at least one player scoring multiple. All six of the Super Falcons goals were by a different player. Oshoala, Gift, Kanu, Christy Ucheibe, captain Rasheedat Ajibade, and Joy Omewa all found the net for the Nigerians.
Three of those goals came from penalty kicks, each taken by a different scorer. It is likely that were she still on the pitch, Oshoala would have taken at least two of those. But with the forward going off injured before half time, Ucheibe took the second and Ajibade the third.
Still, it is a credit to Madugu to have that many scorers, and what is even more fascinating is that all three forward substitutes, Gift, Kanu, and Omewa found the black of the net.
It leaves Madugu with a selection headache ahead of the quarterfinal against Cameroon. The coach will now have a hard time deciding who to pick to start in his starting line-up.
Babajide was especially impressive as a starter. The AS Roma forward was far and away the best player on the pitch and must surely be a shoo-in for a repeat in the next game.
Monday shines on WAFCON debut
Washington Spirit's Gift Monday was a controversial exclusion from the squad that won the last tournament. After two games, she had yet to see minutes and there were already rumblings of discontent directed at Madugu for this.
That was rectified when Oshoala pulled up injured and Monday took advantage. Within minutes of coming on, the forward was making a nuisance of herself in the Egypt box, and her running, one touch play and aerial strength was proving to be a constant threat.
Monday's strength on the ball made it hard for the Cleopatras to shake her off, and her hold up play got her teammates into excellent positions. When Alozie and Babajide took a short corner, she peeled away to put herself in the right place to stab home from Babajide's cutback.
But that was not all, Monday was also involved in at least two other goals. Her flick helped get Babajide off to provide another cutback that Kanu put away, and it was her nifty footwork in the box to hold up play and wait for Ajibade to arrive before passing the ball, which helped the captain set up Omewa to score.
Quarters-bound, but not the right one
The bracket was all set up for Nigeria to have the less difficult pathway to the final. Finish top of the group and they would have been in the weaker half of the bracket. That is no longer the case, as they have now dropped into the difficult half.
If they make their way past Cameroon, they will face the winner of the Morocco vs South Africa quarterfinal in the semis. That is not a path that either of those two teams would have wanted, not so early in the competition, anyway.
But it would not be the Super Falcons if they did it the easy way. The good news is that the other two times they have found themselves in a similar situation, they have met and beat Cameroon in the next round. On the downside, in 2022, they lost on penalty kicks to Morocco after getting past Cameroon.
Madugu will put a brave face on it, but quite clearly, unless his team improves on their play, they will need a Herculean effort not only to make the last four, but also to reach the Final and win an 11th title.
