Nigeria Women's coach Randy Waldrum proud of players despite winless USA campaign
Nigeria Women's football coach Randy Waldrum insisted he remained proud of his players despite their unsuccessful Summer Series campaign drawing to a close with a 2-0 loss to hosts United States.
The nine-time African champions headed into their third and final match in Austin, having lost 1-0 to Jamaica without seven key players. but the arrival of captain Asisat Oshoala and veteran Onome Ebi saw them play out an incident packed 3-3 draw against Portugal.
Late goals in each half earned four-time World and Olympics champions USA their third win of the Series at Austin FC's new Q2 Stadium to stretch their unbeaten streak to 42 games.
"I'm proud of our performance. We obviously had to defend more and we knew we would against the US," Nigeria's American head coach, Waldrum, said.
"But considering where they are in terms of preparation as they are a few weeks away from the Olympics and they are in top form.
"I thought they gave a great effort against the US. We gave a goal up in the 46th minute and another in the 94th minute, but played a very competitive game against the top team in the world, extremely pleased with them."
The outcome of this trip stateside is a reality check for Nigeria who would have been hoping they would be preparation for July's delayed Olympics in Tokyo but for the second successive time they failed to qualify for the quadrennial event.
"We are a team that is just beginning and considering the lateness of some of our players in getting here and not having a full squad here, the professionalism of our players in this entire tournament is something that I am extremely proud of," Waldrum explained.
"You can't fault this incredible mentality and absolute dedication from the players."
In October, defending champions Nigeria will face rivals Ghana in the first round of qualifying for the 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations.
Waldrum believes the experience of playing against strong teams like Jamaica, Portugal and the US will impact the team positively ahead of their continental campaign.
"I believe by the time October rolls around we will be in a good place. These games are going to prepare us, like I always say they going to expose us where we are weak and where we have to improve."
Continental giants Nigeria are the only African team to have played in all eight Women's World Cups since 1991, but they have failed to translate their continental dominance on the world stage.
Their best performance at the World Cup came when reaching the quarter-finals in 1999.
This article originally appeared on BBC Sport
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