2022 FIFA U17 WWC : Five things noticed from Nigeria's shootout loss to Colombia

The Nigerian U-17 women's national team the Flamingos on Wednesday lost 6-5 to Colombia in a penalty shootout and would not be playing in the final of the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India.

The game ended 0-0 after 90 minutes. so te lottery of penalties was required to decide the winner. 

Here allnigeriasoccer.com presents five things we noticed from the suspense-filled clash in the city of Goa.

1. Folorunsho Continuing Her Penalty Duties

The central defender Comfort Folorunsho is not a bad defender albeit she has a lot to improve upon like her focus and recovery rate.

She lost her penalty kick in the shootout against the USA but decided to take another one against Colombia.

Her walk towards the penalty area showed her lack of confidence and true to most supporters' predictions, she lost her kick that condemned Nigeria to a defeat.

2. Flamingos Tired Out In The Second Half 

The Nigerian girls at some stage in the first half had a 60-40% ball possession and created a couple of good chances but in the second half, they got tired out and allowed the South Americans to torment them. 

3. Omilana's  Improvement

Goalkeeper Faith Omilana had a better performance in Wednesday than in the previous game against USA. 

She was arguably Nigeria's best player in 90 minutes on Wednesday. 

4. Ajakaye Should Have Started 

The coach elected to start Opeyemi Ajakaye from the bench on Wednesday but her sharpness showed moments after coming off the bench. 

The top scorer during the qualifiers ought to have started from the kickoff. 

5. Where Are The Long Range Strikes? 

Flamingos were not in their devastating best on Wednesday and could not produce some of those shots from outside the penalty area that might have caused some problems for the South Americans. 

And when Blessing Emmanuel had a chance, her effort was wide and off target. 

Izuchukwu Michael

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