Women’s World Cup: Plumptre named in round of 16 best XI
Super Falcons defender Ashleigh Plumptre has made the list of round of 16 best XI at the ongoing 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
The first knockout round is the books, with eight matches delivering eight winners and eight more teams on the plane home from Australia and New Zealand.
Though Nigeria was eliminated on penalties in the knockout stage by England after a 0-0 draw, Plumptre still made the round of 16 best XI. She is the only African on the list.
The former Leicester Women defender who featured in all the matches played by the Super Falcons at the Women’s World Cup, was involved in 11 aerial duels, three tackles, two dribbles, and four shots in the round of 16 match against England. This earned her a rating of 8.55.
Here is the full list below…
GK: Zecira Musovic (Sweden) – The United States flattered to deceive in the group stage, but they would still have made it to the quarter-finals but for the Chelsea goalkeeper’s 11 saves.
RB: Ellie Carpenter (Australia) – Defensively strong to prevent Denmark getting a foothold but also progressed the ball up the pitch well.
CB: Amanda Ilestedt (Sweden) – Continues to have an outstanding tournament, this time with her defensive resilience rather than her goals the bigger talking point.
CB: Magdalena Eriksson (Sweden) – Led by example at the back against the United States onslaught and scored a peach of a pressure penalty in the shootout.
LB: Ashleigh Plumptre (Nigeria) – Powerful in the air and fierce in the tackle, stopping England in their tracks. She even hit the woowork and forced a decent save against the country of her birth.
CM: Aitana Bonmati (Spain) – Back to her best after a disappointing end to the group in a rampant team performance, scoring twice and assisting two others.
CM: Christy Ucheibe (Nigeria) – Patrolled the midfield for the Super Falcons, breaking up play and destroying England’s rhythm. That lack of space eventually led to Lauren James’ frustration.
CM: Jill Roord (Netherlands) – Another goal for the superstar Dutch midfielder as her country cruised past South Africa and into the last eight.
RW: Alba Redondo (Spain) – The Levante forward has ended up thriving out of the situation that has dogged the Spanish team thanks to consistent chances. Another goal and assist for her.
ST: Kadidiatou Diani (France) – The new Lyon signing took time to find her feet at this World Cup but is bang in form now, scoring and then assisting twice in the first 23 minutes of this round.
LW: Eugenie Le Sommer (France) – Making a mockery of the decision by the former regime to leave her at home for Euro 2022, netting twice more as Les Bleues thrashed Morocco.
