Izuchukwu Okosi
Nigeria’s Super Falconets in the early hours of Monday morning lost 2-0 to the Netherlands in the second quarterfinals of Sunday night to crash out of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica reports Prime Business Africa.
Two first half goals by Zera Hulswit and Ziva Henry in the 11th and 33rd minutes punished the Nigerian side that were unusually sloppy in the defence.
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Ever reliable captain Blessing Demehin was at fault for the second goal when she failed to clear the ball that deflected kindly to her feet although the first strike by the Dutch side was a product of pure magic when Hulswit expertly found the back of the net from the edge of the box.
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Christopher Danjuma’s lasses went in search of the elusive goals in the second half but wasted quite some great chances to restore parity.
The Africans who were beaten finalists in the tournament in 2010 and 2014 respectively – both to Germany – were initially granted a late penalty but after a rather long assessment by the referee at the monitor, she reversed the decision much to the disappointment of the Nigerian team.
Christopher Danjuma’s team began the tournament with a 1-0 win over European champions at the U-20 level, France.
Th Falconets then pipped South Korea 1-0 before rounding off their Group C campaign with a 3-1 romp against Canada.
Robo Queens midfielder Esther Onyenezide was unarguably one of the standout players of the tournament before the exit of the Nigerian team with three goals to her credit and two Woman of the Match awards.
Netherlands will play against Spain in the semifinals of the tournament while Brazil will face Japan.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
