Nigeria 4-5-1 (Nnadozie – Okeke, Ebi, Ohale, Ebere – Ordega, Chikwelu, Okobi, Uchendu, Oshoala – Oparanozie)

South Korea 4-2-3-1 (Kim M – Kim H, Hwang, Kim D, Jang – Ki, Cho – Kang, Lee M, Lee G – Jung)

After the defensive disaster that was their opening 0-3 loss to Norway, Nigeria defended with better structure and organisation to get a win over South Korea. Oshoala at times joined Oparanozie in the first line of pressing, but she also dropped on the left flank to cover the advancing Korean right-back. There was once again man-to-man coverage in midfield, though this time there was a central three to match up against the Korean three, as Chikwelu played alongside Okobi and Uchendu.

South Korea had Ji take up a deeper position here, having had her supporting the lone striker in their opening defeat to France. This meant the Chelsea player got on the ball more often, though she – as well as Cho – was often quickly closed down by the Nigerian midfielders. The Korean full-backs advanced and their wingers came inside, though Nigeria’s central three were better prepared to deal with this than their two in the opener versus Norway. Here, when South Korea found one of the wingers inside, the deepest Nigerian midfielder would shift across to close down while the far side midfielder would shift to cover her.

After struggling to have much success progressing in the central and inside channels, South Korea began to play more directly as the match went on. They played long balls over the top of the Nigerian full-backs for their wingers, who now stayed wider and higher, to get on the end of. Nigeria’s strategy was clear: once the ball is regained, play directly on the outside of the Korean centre-backs, exploiting the spaces left by their advancing full-backs.

Oshoala on the left and Ordega on the right were primed to take advantage in these situations. Their combination of searing pace and skill made them almost impossible for the isolated Korean centre-backs to stop 1v1, making this a consistently effective counter-attacking approach. And, with a lead to defend and South Korea committing more players forward, Nigeria only became more direct in their counter-attacking in the second half.

Ultimately this was a significant progression from the first match for the Nigerians. Their front three showed they can be a serious threat on the break, while their defensive strategy was far more effective than it had been against Norway.