Plumptre: “We are creating opportunities, not granting, we are ready for Zambia”

Ashleight Plumptre, the cover star of Nigeria’s defensive unit, radiated confidence this week while the Super Falcons prepare to face Zambia in the quarterfinals of Wafcon.

Despite Nigeria’s modest account account in the group stage, Plumptre emphasized that the underlying performance of the team offers optimism.

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“We are creating opportunities and not granting objectives,” he said, recognizing the lack of objectives but pointing out a formidable defensive structure. Nigeria closed the group stage with a perfect record and six points thanks to the consecutive clean leaves, victories on Tunisia and Botswana as well, illuminating a tight and disciplined background line.

Offensively, Plumptre admitted that the team “has not been scoring much as expected”, but she emphasized that the efforts point in the right direction.

“We are preparing long before the quarterfinal match on how to stop Zambia as a team, and not only focusing on their star players.” This fits with the tactical change of Nigeria under coach Madugu, who is anxious to focus on collective defensive work instead of the reactive game.

Zambia will not underestimate: Plumptre and his teammates have been specifically training to neutralize the threats of their opponents.

With the lessons already learned from the previous confrontations of Wafcon with Zambia, Plumptre insisted that the hawks are mentally prepared. Nigeria’s resistance in the backbone of the defense promises a strategic battle in what is expected to be a strict contest.

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