Bayelsa Queens Fail to Make Champions League: Retrospective Review

It was a case of ‘so close, yet so far’ as Bayelsa Queens’ quest to return to the CAF Women’s Champions League was quashed after losing 8–7 on penalties to hosts ASEC Mimosas in the WAFU-B final on Friday.

Alarm bells were ringing after the Prosperity Ladies fell to an early goal of their own making by not defending a throw-in routine properly in just 4 minutes with Ami Prisca Diallo stabbing home from close range to make it 1:0 to Asec.

I applauded Bayelsa Queens’ effort in trying to draw level as they piled on pressure on the hosts with relentless attacking forays that were incisive, insidious and quite inventive.

All that effort would be crowned in 18 minutes after an excellent offensive interplay ended with a delightful cross that Emem Essien buried with aplomb: 1-1.

Game on.

This battle ebbed and flowed bitterly and excitingly with no breakthrough for either side before the cold feet of penalty shootouts stamped on Bayelsa Queens’ ambitions, as they lapsed into a long drawn-out, pulsating 7-8 loss after 120 minutes of football.

Well, I enjoyed this encounter immensely as it lived up to the hype with both teams serving up a delicious meal of football worthy of gracing any final at any level with determination, drive and doggedness from both teams.

I was sad that we lost, very sad indeed actually as it took me a while to fall asleep.

That said, I felt that Bayelsa Queens were defeated by masterclass tactics from the Asec coach.

You see, no doubt Bayelsa were the more gifted and highly technical players on the night. But Asec knew what to expect and applied themselves where it mattered most to neutralise Bayelsa with the right strategy that paid dividends.

Nigeria coaches over-rely on wing play. 

Asec flooded that zone to ensure less crosses were delivered by Bayelsa. Bayelsa also had a knack of going to sleep at the back which Asec punished for the opening goal and almost punished with several near misses, one with a free header which, in truth, should have scored if the Ivorian had applied better heading technique.

We (Bayelsa) had 4 upfront but these strikers were positioned too close, way too close to the Ivorian defenders that it made it easier to get tight and vice-like  to our strikers, crowding them out and making it difficult to generate compelling, clear cut goal scoring chances - Asec created far fewer scoring chances but these were more dangerous than the ones we generated.

In midfield we seemed to lack vision as we failed to adequately stamp our authority in that arena.

All in all, Nigerian coaches must learn how to create space for their strikers to breathe rather than depending too much on brute force, physicality and pace which, sadly, all failed Bayelsa Queens when it mattered the most!