Izuchukwu Okosi
Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national team the Flamingos on Monday afternoon finished their Group B campaign in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India with a 2-1 defeat of Chile at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar reports Prime Business Africa.
The team coached by Bankole Oloworooke needed a win or draw to ensure qualification to the knockout stages and they got off to a brilliant start in the 4th minute when stand-in captain Blessing Emmanuel rattled the bottom left corner with a good strike.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe Flamingos piled on the pressure and had over 10 shots on target in the first half but could not find their way despite numerous scoring chances that came their way.
The relentless attack by Nigeria who will be making their fourth Quarterfinals appearance in the tournament’s history continued in the second half as Opeyemi Ajakaye who was topscorer in the qualifying stages in Africa but yet to score in India rattled the crossbar with a thunderous strike in the 74th minute.
Ajakaye the assist maker for Emmanuel’s goal found Amina Bello four minutes later and the latter also tried her luck from range which Chilean keeper Catalina Alvarado pushed away for a corner.
The Falcons scored their second goal in the 90th minute when Bisola Mosaku rifled hef shot to the top corner but the Chileans got a goal for their efforts when the VAR ruled that right back Omamuzo Edafe handled the ball inside the penalty area.
Nigeria will face the Group A winners in the quarterfinals with Brazil, USA or Morocco their next opponent depending on the results later Monday evening.
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.
