Falconets beat England to reach quarterfinals
by George Akpayen 14 August 2014, 11:12
Nigeria's Falconets came back from a goal down to defeat England 2-1 to finish as winners of Group C at the ongoing Fifa Under-20 Women's World Cup in Canada.
The defeat means England are sent packing out of the tournament at the group stage.
It was the English who opened score in the fifth minute through Nikita Parris' shot from the edge of the Nigerian box which flew over goalkeeper Ibijoke Sangonuga.
But the Falconets fought back just four minutes before the break. Loveth Ayila carved an opened for herself 25 yards out of England's before powerfully shooting leaving goalkeeper Lizzie Durack with no chance of stopping her bullet of a shot though the English custodian got her hand on the ball.
In the second 45 minutes, England had the chance to restore their lead through a penalty after Parris was felled in the box by Sangonuga in goal for Nigeria.
Bethany Mead stepped up and fluffed the chance for the Europeans from 12 yards to take the lead again.
However, Nigeria made no mistake in the 59th minute when the referee awarded the African champions a spot kick after Asisat Oshoala was upended in the England box after dribbling her way through a forest of legs.
Oshoala picked herself up and calmly side-footed the spot kick past Durack for Nigeria to lead 2-1.
Nigeria should have scored an insurance goal to put the daylight between them and England but saw one of their effort just clip the woodwork.
In the latter stage of the match, the Africans bossed the contest and finished on top to set up a quarterfinal clash with New Zealand on Sunday.
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