How Favour Chiamaka Nwocha Destroyed Senegal

Whereas Chinanza Kindness and Oscar Precious grabbed the headlines for thier 2 goals, thier 2 headers, that headed Nigeria to the precipice of World Cup qualification, another smooth operator operated in plain sight in midfield.

Introducing Favour Chiamaka Nwocha.

This young lady is something else, Man!! She has this abundance of needles and threads in her midfield haberdashery to knit together a garment of eloquent movements, passes and interactions that thrills and excites in equal measures.

She was part of a high-pressing front-line of the Falconets that forced Senegal into several defensive errors early in the match, leading to Nigeria's dominant 2–0 lead before Senegal pulled one back later on. Her corner kicks were a constant menace, clocking an assist and causing several near misses.

Spotting jersey number 2, Favour made a 360° swivel, sending the hijab-wearing Senegalese midfielder to the mat of frustration, before then delivering a delicious defence splitting pass to Shakirat Moshood which caused problems.

She would reprise this trick in 60 minutes, producing an elaborate step-over to then cross into the opposition 18 yard box which caused havoc.

She then produced a hattrick of this manoeuvre in 62 minutes, leading 2 Senegalese defenders up the creek without a paddle with her 360, before bursting open their defence with a delicate, yet dangerous through pass.

Every touch, tap or trick from Nwocha injected credibility and class into Nigeria's midfield infrastructure on a day that went on to announce her as a star in the making.

Honourable mention must be made of the Falconets' defence that proved to be the promontory that prevented the Senegalese forwards from making enough headway to draw the game level.

2:1 the game ended with Nigeria advancing to the last round of qualifiers to be staged in May.