How Japan ended Nigeria’s Paris 2024 Olympics medal hope with 31 win 

By Harry Awurumibe, Africa’s No.1 Women Football Journalist

Nigeria’s Super Falcons exited Paris 2024 Olympics Women’s Football Tournament at Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes after losing their last Group C match 1-3 to Japan to end any hope of podium finish in Paris.

The loss to the Asian giants turned out to be their biggest loss of the tournament and they return home without a point from their first outing at the Olympics in 16 years.

After 0-1 defeats by Brazil and Spain in their two earlier matches, the Super Falcons were expected to throw the kitchen sink at the Asian champions. Instead, the Nadeshiko were two goals up just a little after the half-hour mark, both scored within 10 minutes of each other.

Mika Hamano fired past goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie to give the Asian champions the lead after 22 minutes, and in the 32nd, Mina Tanaka doubled the lead, leaving the nine-time African champions with a heavy burden to lift to stand a chance of victory.

However, Jennifer Onyinye Echegini briefly gave hope of that possibility, with a brilliant strike with three minutes to go into recess, but the Japanese restored their two-goal advantage in added time of first half when Hamano got her second with a superb free-kick.

The much-expected come-back in the second half failed to materialize as the Nadeshiko dug in, creating chances after chances and could have scored more goals to compound the woes of coach Randy Waldrum-led  Super Falcons that departed the Paris Olympics Women’s Football Tournament in France without recording a single point and scoring only one goal in their three matches.