After their opening World Cup 2015 games, Nigeria and Australia are in a bit of a desperate situation, and it’s tough to say who needs a win more. Nigeria got an impressive point from their opening game, but this might be their last chance to get a win. Australia, meanwhile, have no points thus far, but might get out of the group with a draw here and a win in their final match.
Australia vs. Nigeria, 2015 Women’s World Cup: Start time, TV schedule and live stream
Can the Super Falcons pull off another minor upset and sink the Matildas?
Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Nigeria were excellent in their opener, but probably should have beaten Sweden, and might regret not doing it. The same goes for Australia, who looked like they were playing well enough to snag a draw against the United States for most of their game, but crumbled late.
This is probably going to be a gut-wrenching game for fans of either team, but very fun for neutrals. Both teams play a fairly wide-open style of soccer and have some of the fastest players in the tournament. Expect counter-attacking and counter-counter-attacking. This could turn into a virtual track meet.
Key player: Precious Dede
If Nigeria had a replacement-level goalkeeping performance between the sticks against Sweden, they probably would have taken all three points. But Precious Dede was poor, and Australia -- already kind of a volume shooting team -- probably took note. Expect lots of long shots and crosses into the box. She'll need to deal with them way better than she did in her first game.
Key matchup: Asisat Oshoala vs. Australia's fullbacks
Australia put in a good performance against the United States, but got burned by Megan Rapinoe and Christen Press cutting inside from wide areas. Asisat Oshoala is just as dangerous in that respect and is in spectacular form at the moment. She'll rack up some more goals and assists if the Matildas don't have a good plan to contain her.
Match date/time: Friday, 5 p.m. ET
Venue: Investors Group Field, Winnipeg, Canada
TV: FOX Sports 1 (U.S.), TSN 1, RDS 2 (Canada), BBC red button, Eurosport 2 (U.K.), SBS One (Australia)
Online: FOX Sports Go, FOX Soccer 2 Go, NBC Deportes en vivo extra (U.S.), TSN (Canada), Eurosport player (U.K.)
See More:
