Super Falcons plan to kick-start their quest for Olympic gold with an early goal against Brazil

NIGERIA'S Super Falcons plan to kick-start their quest for Olympic glory today with an early goal against one of the tournament favourites Brazil who they meet in their opening match in a Group C game in Bordeaux.

Later this evening, the Falcons will start their campaign to emulate the men's team who won Olympic gold in 1996 in Atlanta with a game against the Samba Girls. World champions Spain and Japan are the other two teams in the tough group but the Falcons are confident or making it through to the knockout stages, especially after their decent World Cup run that saw them only get eliminated on penalties by eventual finalists England.

To unsettle the Brazilians’ game plan, the Super Falcons are said to be targeting an early goal in the encounter, which they hope will jolt the South American giants and help them to set the stage. Nigeria's Falcons are seeking a historic victory against the Brazilians, as the two previous matches between both sides ended in defeat for the Super Falcons.

In their first encounter at the USA ’99 World Cup quarterfinals, the Super Falcons agonisingly lost 4-3 on the golden goal rule, having rallied back from a 0-3 deficit in regulation time. Then, the Brazilians also won 3-1 in the group stage of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in China.

To reverse this trend of losses, Super Falcons head coach Randy Waldrum, has a game plan that involves unleashing an all-attacking formation against the Brazilians to get early goals. Last week, the Samba Girls, who are parading one of the oldest strikers in world football, in Marta, boasted that they would blow the Super Falcons away today on their way to second round qualification.

For Nigeria, the Super Falcons’ best Olympic outing was at Athens 2004 where they lost 2-1 to Germany in the quarterfinals. While the Falcons failed to qualify for the last three editions of the Olympic Games, the Brazilians have been constant participants, winning silver at the 2004 and 2008 editions.

Brazilian forward Adriana Leal De Silva, said: “Detail from a set piece, for example is very important, whether it’s to score a goal or to prevent the opposing team from scoring, therefore, we must pay as much attention as possible. This first game is crucial and it will always be like this. We need to have much concentration and focus for this debut and take it step-by-step.”

She revealed that they have studied videotapes of Super Falcons goalkeeper Chidozie Nnamaka and that their strikers will have no problem in converting their chances today. While Brazil won nine of their 11 matches coming into this fixture, the Super Falcons are undefeated in their last eight competitive matches but they lost 0-1 to Canada in their last warm-up game last week.

Today's clash, which will kick-off at 6pm at Stade de Bordeaux in southern France, while the other match in the group involving Spain and Japan will take place in Nantes. Nigeria then play Spain on Saturday July 28 and Japan on Wednesday July 31.