'Sad day!' - Super Falcons forward Oparanozie apologises over penalty miss against England

Super Falcons striker, Desire Oparanozie has apologized to Nigerians for missing her penalty kick in the round of 16 match loss to England at the 2023 Women’s World Cup (WWC) in Australia, on Monday, August 7.

The Falcons crashed out of the tournament after a 4-2 defeat to England on penalties despite pushing the Lioness to the wall.

Oparanozie missed the team’s opening penalty, followed by Michelle Alozie as the Lionesses edged Falcons to a quarter-final place.

Reacting to the defeat, in a post on her official X, formerly known as Twitter, account, Oparanozie said she was “very disappointed” by the loss and even more upset by her penalty miss.

“Sad day! Very disappointing to have lost through penalties and even more disappointing not to have converted mine. And for this, I deeply apologise,” she wrote.

The 29-year-old had missed all the games in the World Cup group stage due to injury. She was brought on deep into the extra time against England and had three touches before the match went into a penalty shootout.