By Felix Onojaiyefe
Nigeria’s U-17 ladies’s (Flamingos) reached the quarter finals of the ongoing FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals in India after they scooped all three points from Chile in a 2-1 win in Bhubaneswar.
Blessing Emmanuel’s goal in the 4th minute of the game and Bisola Mosaku’s strike off a free-kick by dead-ball artist Miracle Usani with eight minutes left was enough to see Nigeria through at the Kalinga Stadium, despite a late penalty converted by Roverner Tali.
The win earned the Flamingoes a place in the quarter finals on Friday, with either USA or Brazil as opponents.
As was the case against New Zealand on Friday, the Flamingos created a slew of opportunities that were not converted, but Head Coach Bankole Olowookere assured the team will get even better as the tournament progresses.
“We missed a number of chances again, but I like the spirit of the team and we will get better as we go on in the competition. I am happy we made it into the last eight, and that we sustained our winning mentality despite the fact that we only needed a draw to sail through.”
Germany’s 3-1 win over New Zealand in the other match of Group B meant the Germans finished with the maximum nine points in the group phase, having scored a total of 11 goals conceding only two.
Nigeria finished with six points, and a plus six goals advantage after scoring seven goals and conceding only two.
This is the fourth time Nigeria will be qualifying for the quarterfinals of the U17 World Cup just as Opeyemi Ajakaye was announced the Player of the Match in the win over Chile and its her second in consecutive matches in the tournament so far.
