Julius Okorie
Olusola Shobowale was on target for hard fighting Falconets in the last 16 encounter against Japan at the ongoing FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia on Friday, but did not save the team from the exit doors of the championship.
The Christopher Danjuma tutored side as earlier predicted by Primebusiness.africa, met a brick wall in rampant Japanese girls who threw all the arsenals in their armoury into the match from the first blast of the whistle.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelFalconets had equally risen to the occasion as both teams battled for supremacy in the first 30 minutes of the game. The deadlock was however broken in the 33rd minute after Miyu Matsunaga shot Japan into the lead. Falconets fought tooth and nail intent to levelling up before the end of the first 45 minutes to no avail.
On resumption of hostilities in the second half, hard fired up Falconets intensified effort, but again Japan compounded the problem increasing the tally in the 65th minute through Maya Hijikata.
With 25minutes left to the end of the game and with two goals down, it was apparent that the Falconets have been boxed into a corner but the girls put the disappointment behind and continued seeking a breakthrough.
A consolation goal was however all their effort could generate in the first minute of added time after 90 minutes when Shobowale found the back of the net.
READ ALSO :Colombia 2024: Falconets In Make Or Break Clash As Cameroon Crash Out
Falconets’ exit marks the complete exodus of African teams from the championship, which ends on September 22.
Recall that Ghana, Morocco and Cameroon had earlier bowed out. In the second group 16 tie played this morning, Netherlands advanced to the last eight after beating France 2-1.
In the quarterfinal pairings to be played on Sunday and Monday respectively, Brazil will battle Korea DPR, Netherlands tackle hosts Colombia. Monday will see Japan tackle Spain while United States and Germany slug it out at the Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero in Santiago de Cali.
Spain are defending champions, and are seeking the title for the second time just like Japan who also clinched the title in 2018.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
