Matchday 10 – Player of the Match

Members of our Technical Study Group (TSG) are attending every game of the tournament and are tasked with awarding the Player of the Match accolades. When choosing the recipient of the accolade, our experts consider the player's tactical, physical and mental contribution to their team's performance.

Player of the Match: (5) Sandra Villafañe (ESP)

Spain were crowned FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2022™ champions after a hard-fought 1-0 victory over a hugely competitive Colombia side on Sunday. The crucial goal came in the 82^nd minute when Ana Maria Guzman was desperately unlucky to see the ball ricochet off her chest and into the net after a potent Spanish attack. 

Colombia were impressive in their attacking and counter-attacking play and demanded strong and composed defending from Spain to keep them scoreless. Spain orchestrated some entertaining and clever attacking play themselves, but their defensive performance stood out to our TSG, with centre-back Sandra Villafañe receiving the Player of the Match award for a second consecutive game.

According to Anna Signeul, "Villafañe leads her team from the back with great communication and determination. Her partnership with Marina Artero is very strong and her understanding of the game is evident in her decision-making. She times her tackles well but also knows when to hold her line. She works well with her other defenders to make sure there are no gaps in their back line and makes it very difficult for the opponent to find space in behind, because she is fast and can recover at high speed."

"She has come up against some exceptionally talented forward players in this tournament and she has managed those challenges very well. In possession, she has the technique to play passes under pressure and leads the build-up from the back," she added. 

Tom Sermanni also observed the match and commented, "She combined her ability to be defensively disciplined with a creative confidence to step-in with the ball and be really involved in the build-up. She is excellent in her 1v1 defensive duels and she understands her pace  and knows how to use it to time interceptions. Her composure and confidence are a huge asset to her team."  

Spain's win makes them the first team in history to defend the title. 

Player of the Match: (17) Opeyemi Ajakaye (NGA) 

Nigeria claimed the bronze medals after an intriguing and eventful match against Germany. Goals from Opeyemi Ajakaye, Amina Bello and Edidiong Etim gave Nigeria a 3-0 lead but with just 17 minutes of the game remaining, Germany brought the contest level courtesy of goals from Jella Zeit, Paulina Bartz and Loreen Bender. This took the game to penalties with Nigeria securing the victory on a 3-2 score line. 

Nigeria striker Opeyemi Ajakaye not only scored the opening goal in this game but also instigated so much of her team's attacking play. Ajakaye was very clever in how she positioned herself and always ensured she was in a 1v1 with a Germany defender, even if they had two defenders back. For this reason, she was always able to stretch the game and was a great outlet for her team due to her explosive accelerations. She was also strong defensively, especially at set plays. For these reasons, she was selected by our TSG as the Player of the Match. 

According to Tom Sermanni, "She was a constant threat to the Germany defence with her pace and willingness to make early runs in behind. Her ability to dribble and change pace created major issues for Germany's defenders." 

Anna Signeul was also observing the game and she added, "Ajakaye really led her team from the front with great energy and commitment. She ignited Nigeria's counter-attacking game very successfully because she is fast and opportunistic. She is always a threat in behind because of her pace but she can also receive the ball under pressure, turn with it and win a 1v1. She is strong in the tackle, reads the game well and is a good defender for her team."