2023 FIFAWWC: Super Falcons Were Quick, Energetic Against Australia - Kellond-Knight

2023 FIFAWWC: Super Falcons Were Quick, Energetic Against Australia - Kellond-Knight

Ibrahim Lateef 

Australia's greatest ever defender Elise Kellond-Knight has hailed the Super Falcons following their comeback 3-2 win against the Matildas on Thursday but singled out Asisat Oshoala for imapct off the bench, BSNSports.com.ng reports.

Australia scored first when Emily van Egmond converted Caitlin Foord's pass. But Nigeria equalised soon afterwards with Uchenna Kanu's calm finish, before Osinachi Ohale's header made it 2-1.

Asisat Oshoala scored after a mix-up between Australia's Alanna Kennedy and Mackenzie Arnold and Nigeria held on, despite Kennedy scoring late on.

Nigeria move top of Group B, level with Canada on 4 points, while Australia are a point behind both before the last matches in the section on Monday.

Kellond-Knight, who has represented the Matildas at three World Cups, politely labelled Gustavsson's tactics 'curious'.

She also felt the right-side combination of Hayley Raso and Ellie Carpenter didn't gel given their similar playing styles.

She said: 'Nigeria were quick, they were very energetic. They also had [Barcelona star] Asisat Oshoala who made a huge imapct off the bench.

"There's 20 minutes to go and they made four substitutions and we hadn't made one. What were our players thinking?' 

Former Matildas star Amy Chapman also said in commentary Gustavsson got it wrong against Nigeria.

"Chidiac really made a difference, but we really needed that 15 minutes earlier,' she said on Optus Sport.

"He needed to go for it. There's a 3-1 gap there. It's too late. They're getting frustrated. Nigeria are dropping further and further back. It was too late."

And while shattered at the 3-2 defeat, Gustavsson raised plenty of eyebrows after stating that while the result wasn't great, he thought the team's performance was.

The Swede pointed to Australia's dominant attacking stats, including winning the possession battle, and having more final third entries and more than double Nigeria's shots on goal to justify his view.

"I'm actually not that disappointed about the performance, but I'm disappointed by the result," he said in his post-match press conference.

"They came out and played good. They're brave and they gave it their all, all the way through, and almost got the tie today.' 

Australia take on Canada in a must-win Group B clash in Melbourne while Nigeria take on Ireland on Monday.