Falcons learnt from Malawi defeat, says Alozie

August 3, 2026 12:43 am

Super Falcons defender Michelle Alozie insists the 10-time champions learnt their lessons from their 3-2 defeat to Malawi, which helped propel them to a hard-fought 1-0 win over Zambia on Saturday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

Alozie was named Player of the Match in the crucial win, putting in an impressive shift as the Falcons played with 10 players from the 40th minute.

Defender Tosin Demehin was shown a straight red card, but Asisat Oshoala’s eighth-minute strike was enough for the 10-woman Falcons to get their title defence back on track against Zambia, who were looking for their second win of the tournament.

“We knew Zambia is a really tough team. They are super fast, physical and very technical. We learned the lesson after playing against Malawi, so we knew we needed to drop the line,” Alozie said while receiving her award.

“It was a hell of a game. Tosin played her heart out. It was unfortunate that she was shown a red card, but I’m glad we were able to come together with a player down and get the win.”

The victory moves Nigeria to three points from two matches and keeps them in the race for the quarter-finals.

Earlier, Malawi defeated Egypt 3-1 to move top of Group C with six points. Zambia remain second with three points, Nigeria are third with three, while Egypt are bottom without a point.

The standings mean Nigeria still have work to do, but the win has given them a route back into the tournament.

Nigeria must beat Egypt convincingly on Wednesday and hope the result in the simultaneous game between Malawi and Zambia also favours them.

The Super Falcons will hope to continue their chase for an 11th continental title and also a place at the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.

Abiodun Adewale

Abiodun, who reports Sports for PUNCH, covers different tiers of the Nigerian football league, the national teams, as well as cricket, in the last six years

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