South Korea 0 Nigeria 1 : Onyenezide's splendid strike puts Falconets on the brink of qualifying for last 8

Nigeria's Super Falconets late Sunday night defeated South Korea's Taegeuk Ladies 1-0 in their second Group C match of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup thanks to a superb Esther Onyenezide goal at the Estadio Alajuela Morera Soro to put the African powerhouse on the brink of qualifying for the quarterfinals of the tournament in Costa Rica.

The match was initially delayed over inclement weather as the pitch was waterlogged.

The Falconets began the game very brightly and strung clever passes around in the flrst 15 minutes of proceedings but as the game went on, Korea gained confidence owing to sloppy piece of defending by Christopher Danjuma's lasses.

The Asians threatened to grab a goal or more and even hit the frame of the Nigerian post via a free kick by Lee Suin.

Nigeria's goalkeeper Omini Oyono parried away a powerful 35-yard shot by captain Mun Ha-yeon with 21 minutes played in the game.

Esther Onyenezide let fly a shot in the 50th minute that almost caught the Korean keeper off guard but she managed to punch the ball which Flourish Sabastine could not latch on as her revised shot at the byline was weak and easily gathered by the opposition keeper.

Oyono produced a brilliant piece of goalkeeping from a Lee's long range shot for a corner kick and few seconds later also kept out a low shot instinctively inside her box with her feet.

Onyenezide who has been imperious in midfield and drew some fouls for her troubles then put Nigeria ahead in the 83rd minute with a thunderous shot from distance that goalkeeper Kim Kyeonghee had no solution to.

The celebration that followed the very beautiful goal showed the mighty relief on Christopher Danjuma's heart.

Up next Nigeria will face Canada in their final group game at the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela on Wednesday, August 17.

Izuchukwu Michael

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