The Nigerian team on Wednesday in the Dominican Republic defeated their New Zealand counterparts 4-1 in their opening match at the 2024 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup.
In the match played at the Cibao Stadium in Santiago de los Caballeros, the Flamingos were outstanding in recording their first victory.
Shakirat Moshood opened scoring in the second minute of the game, before Taiwo Adegoke doubled the lead in the 13th minute to give the team a good advantage.
Faridat Abdulwahab scored the third goal in the 28th minute to take the game beyond their opponents by the end of the first half of the match.
The New Zealand girls fought back but they could not convert any of their goal scoring chances before the end of the first half.
On resumption of the second half, the Flamingos continued to dominate the game and Taiwo Afolabi duly scored the fourth goal in the 55th minute.
Hannah Saxon went on to score New Zealand’s only goal in the 60th minute to make the final scores 4-1.
The Flamingos will now in their next game on Saturday face Ecuador, who beat host nation Dominican Republic 2-0 later on Wednesday.
Nigeria will end their Group A campaign on Tuesday when they take on the host nation at the Felix Sanchez Stadium in Santo Domingo.
Nigeria has participated in every edition of the competition, finishing in the semi-finals in the last edition at India in 2022.
That was the closest they have ever got to winning the competition.
A total of 16 teams from six confederations are participating in the ongoing tournament which began on Wednesday, October 16, and is expected to end on November 3.
(NAN)
