A late goal by Flourish Sabastine earned Nigeria’s Falconets victory against the Korea Republic at the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia early hours of Monday.
In a game where goal-scoring opportunities were far reaching, it was the Nigerian girls that made the most of theirs deep into stoppage time at the Estadio Metropolitano de Techo, Bogota.
Forward, Mary Lucky Mkpa could have ended the morning with a brace had she had enough precision.
Despite the early promise by the Falconets, it was the Asians that came close to drawing the first blood on the quarter-hour, but Shukurat Oladipo got one foot to a teasing cross from the right.
Nigeria’s goalkeeper, Shukurat Bakare, almost gifted a goal in the 28th minute when she missed a pull-out, but the South Korean forward could only sky it.
At the other end, Mkpa had a chance of her own but slammed the ball a little too high after a brilliant pass from Rofiat Imuran.
Nigeria were again lucky just before halftime when Korea’s Myeyung rocked the crossbar from a 22-yard free-kick.
At the interval, Sabastine and Amina Bello saw their shots blocked in the opposition box, and substitute Chiamaka Okwuchukwu also came close from a good run on the right but could not make a meal of it.
However, when it looked like the game was heading to a stalemate, Sabastine sliced the ball from the right wing to smack the upright into the back of the net for the winner.
Next up for Chris Danjuma’s side is a clash on Wednesday evening against three-time champions, Germany who beat Venezuela in the other Group D fixture.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
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