Nigeria’s female national team, Super Falcons’ head coach, Justine Madugu has blamed his side’s loss to South Africa on individual errors by some of his players, but conceded that he has to take full responsibility for the defeat.
Sports247 reports that Thursday night’s 2-1 slump in Casablanca, Morocco means the Falcons have failed to reach the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time since it’s inception in 1991 and Madugu admitted he deeply regrets the setback.
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He, however, commended his players for what he described as their gallant efforts and determination, then repeatedly apologised for the unprecedented yet historic setback at this year’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON 2026).
“I have to apologise to Nigerians for our inability to make it to the World Cup,” said the WAFCON 2024 winner in the same North African country. “We are very sorry, because it was not our intention to lose.
“Our players were determined to win, and they gave their all, but individual errors cost us the game. I am sorry and I take full responsibility for what happened, but there will always be a next time.”
Madugu continued to reflect on what went wrong during the play-off fixture, which was a last chance for the Falcons to stay in the race to Brazil 2027, and the embattled tactician admitted that his players lost too many scoring chances during the game.
“There were individual errors in terms of decision making. We had some chances but conversion was our problem. We were determined to win and it’s something that we really regret.
“We wanted to win, but we could; and we are sorry about it. This is something that has happened already, and there’s nothing we can do about it. I am sorry,” Madugu reiterated lamely.
