Super Falcons coach Madugu fires back at critics ahead of South Africa World Cup play-off

Super Falcons coach Justin Madugu has defended his team selection and tactical decisions ahead of Thursday’s crucial 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup play-off against South Africa.

Speaking alongside captain Rasheedat Ajibade at the pre-match press conference, Madugu responded to criticism of his squad rotation and tactics following Nigeria’s disappointing quarter-final exit from the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

The coach said his decisions were always aimed at helping Nigeria win.

“The ones that I win, you say it is the players that are good, but when we lose now, it is the coach that is bad,” Madugu said.

“Every game, we pick those who we feel are ready to ensure that we win every match. How do you imagine a coach? You have the responsibility of selecting a team to go and win a match. How do you now do something contrary? What is your intention? What do you want?

“You make changes, they say, no, this is not the right person who should come in. This is the person who should come in.”

With Nigeria’s World Cup hopes now resting on Thursday’s encounter, Madugu said the team understands the importance of the fixture.

“We all know how important that match is. We are treating it based on its importance because we know what it means,” he said.

“We’re ready for it. We’ll give it all our best.”

Madugu provides injury update

Madugu said the medical team was working to ensure the players were fit for the decisive encounter.

“We are working with the medical team to ensure that everybody who will be on the team tomorrow is fully fit, no reservations,” he said.

“So far, I think we’re getting positive signals concerning a few of them that had some little challenges in the last game. Hopefully, they will all be ready for tomorrow.”

He also said the team was not looking beyond South Africa.

“My major concern for now is just tomorrow’s game. That’s what we are focused on.

“Because you take it one at a time. By the time we cross tomorrow, we’ll get to the next hurdle, and then we’ll deal with that too.”

Why Madugu changes his XI

The coach explained that the opposition, player fitness and the limited time available with national teams influence his selections.

“Every game comes with its own plans, based on the opposition also. You look at what the opposition has and what you can also use against them,” he explained.

“That’s why mostly we tend to have a lot of flexible players in the team that can adjust to whatever it is that we intend doing.”

Madugu said national-team coaches have little time to implement their ideas compared with club coaches.

“In the national team, you have just a few days. If not for a competition of this magnitude, you don’t have more than four or five days. Mostly, maybe one week with the players.

“And it’s not sufficient enough for you to be able to get everybody to understand what you really want, the philosophy, and then perfect everything within just that one-week period.”

He added:

“So it’s not as if we just want to change players or change teams because we just want to change. No, there are reasons why we have to make some of these changes.”

‘We will not gamble against South Africa’

Madugu insisted that Thursday’s match would not be used for experimentation.

“For tomorrow’s game, for every game we pick those that we feel are ready to ensure that we win every match,” he said.

“It’s not just about squad rotation, that everybody should have an opportunity to just play. It’s not about that. It’s about ensuring that we have the right people who will always win every game for us.

“Even for tomorrow’s (Thursday) game, it’s not a game that we’ll have to gamble with anything. We will give it all our best.”

He also promised maximum commitment from the selected players.

“I can assure you that those who will represent us tomorrow will give out their absolute best. Even those who are on the bench will also make a contribution to ensure that the team does well.”

Ajibade appeals for support

Ajibade acknowledged the disappointment of losing automatic World Cup qualification to Cameroon but urged Nigerians to support the team.

“Looking at your faces, it scares me. And I can see that you guys really felt the whole blow, and you don’t feel excited,” she said.

“We also feel sad as much as you do. But we want you to also come out and 100% cheer up.

“We’re all in this together and we’ll get through this together.”

The captain also acknowledged the growing strength of African women’s football.

“We now see that the reality is getting prepared in terms of much more intentional preparation, in terms of investment, in terms of doing the right thing at the right time, which is important.

“There are a lot of players that are 100% put together for every tournament, so it’s not going to be a pushover anymore. We’ve already seen the handwriting.”

Madugu: ‘We have a second chance’

Madugu said Nigeria must now make the most of their remaining opportunity.

“All of us are not happy. Even we ourselves. I think we should be the saddest group because we are the principal actors.

“And eventually, we are the ones that everybody was looking up to, and we couldn’t deliver in the last game.”

However, he added:

“For tomorrow (Thursday), like we said, we have a second chance. We have this second opportunity. We are still going to do the best that we can. We are not leaving anything out.

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“We are going to put in all our best to make sure that at least we put smiles on the faces of our people because we know what it means to all of us as Nigerians.”

‘Nothing is permanent’

Reflecting on Nigeria’s WAFCON setback, Madugu warned that the country could no longer rely on its history.

“Nothing is permanent,” Madugu said.

“Everybody is investing so much, and everybody is doing so much to try and ensure that they improve,” he said.

“So the onus is on us to also realise the fact that reality should dawn on us. We need to also understand that just like everybody is doing well now, we must also do a lot to try and ensure that we not only remain where we are, but also try as much as possible to keep improving at all times.”

He concluded:

“Because just as others are doing a lot, you cannot expect people to be working and doing investment and you are doing nothing and then you expect that you always come out victorious. It doesn’t work that way.

“It’s not magic.”

With Nigeria’s place at the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup now on the line, Madugu and Ajibade will hope their words are followed by action when the Super Falcons face long-time rivals South Africa in the decisive play-off.

For Nigeria, there is no longer room for excuses. The World Cup dream now depends on what the Super Falcons produce on the pitch.