A late wonder strike from Esther Onyenezide earned Nigeria’s Falconets a hard fought 1-0 win against South Korea in their second Group C game at the FIFA U-20 women’s World Cup in Sunday.
With the tight contest heading for a goalless draw, Onyenezide got the winner to secure the Falconets’ second win of the tournament.
It is now a third consecutive win for the Falconets against South Korea in the history of the U-20 women’s World Cup.
The coach Christopher Danjuma-tutored side will face Canada in their final group game on Wednesday by 3am Nigerian time.
Just like the their first game against France, the Falconets saw their fixture versus South Korea billed to kickoff at 9pm shifted to 10.15pm due to heavy rain.
The game eventually commenced with the Falconets creating the first attempt on goal in the third minute through Bashirat Amoo, who tried a long range effort from a free kick but was calmly saved by keeper Kim Kyeong-Hee.
Four minutes later South Korea went close but
Chun Ga-Ram’s effort went wide.
In the 22nd minute the Koreans went on the attack again with Lee Soo-In hitting a long range strike but the ball hit woodwork.
With four minutes left in the first half, Amoo made an ambitious long range strike which went off target.
Five minutes into the second half Onyenezide tried a long cross into the area on the back of a pouring attack but South Korea keeper rose high to claim the ball.
Just three minutes later Onyenezide forced the Korean keeper to a save with her superb long range effort.
In the 64th minute Korea went close but Oyono made a superb diving save to palm a shot destined for the top corner away for a corner.
And in the 82nd minute the goal finally came thanks to a brilliant long range strike from Onyenezide which flew past the Korean keeper and nestled into the back of the net.
The Koreans pour forward for the equalizer but could not break down a resilient Falconets defence.
22 Comments
And Ghana?…make i dey look 4 trouble
Those ladies are the ones that supposed to play black stars in abuja
Winning this trophy we be a better conpesation for afcon loss. Congratulations falconet, at list five players from this team should join the falcons worldcup squad, its high time we bring the wcup home. Weldone falconet, fligh higher
What of Ghana you asked? They will remain envious. That’s their portion while Nigeria keeps soaring high in every areas of sports. 2022 definitely has been a year of success for Nigerian women in sports. Now the big one soon. Chan eagles vs Ghana. That’s where many Ghanaians will have Heart attack.No away goal rule escape. Chan eagles will beat you home and away.Self made shit, come out and talk, or remain silent for ever
Congratulations again to the falconets.
Another knife-edged game, settled by late goal. Once again, it was touch and go, but somehow, these young girls managed to pull the chestnut out of the fire in the end.
Quarterfinals ticket sealed, now time to top the group beckons.
Viva falconets.
And by the way, that was an incredible strike from Esther.
Do our SE midfielders need to approach her for some ‘sooting’ lessons…..like that ‘lebu sot’ (level shot) from her right boots for the only goal of the game…?
This GIRL anytime I see her FACE on the PIX, there is something GOD was always trying to TELL me…
But I don’t know why I couldn’t just say it..
Hmmmm…
So this is it?
That should be the ONEDER that will come out with the WONDER GOAL…
I know what you might be thinking. Fortunately, there are no more room for age cheating. Thanks to the new MRI bone scan technology.
Congratulations Nigerians. Am very proud of our Falconets. Our girls are making Nigeria and Africa proud bravo. God bless Nigeria!!!
Onyenezide+Onye egwu= Onyenedegwu wara player.
USA loosing to the Dutch is a justification that athleticism alone doesn’t win games,this USA style of play reminds me of super falcons style under waldrum where the team had 90% athleticism & 3% technique,at one stage the USA no 7 couldn’t get a simple pass under control meanwhile she’s the fastest player on the pitch. This goes to show why European football is far more superior to any football on earth because they focus on the technical aspects of the game as well as the physical side of it.
Congrats, Falconets. That strike was wonderful, driven with determination and purpose.
Thanks for this welcomed relief. This is sweet victory, a soothing massage that will take away some pains we’ve suffered recently.
Now tighten your boots and go for gold!
Congratulations to the Falconets. It was really a very tight game which was equally heading for a draw like the first match. Looks like the high scoring side during the African qualifiers is now struggling to score goals? Mapping out techniques and tactics to break down strong defenses and scoring goals should be the coach’s focus henceforth as we enter into the knockout stages
African level is not same level with the world stage of the game.
She’s my favorite player in the team. I’ve been watching her since the qualifiers. Sometimes you only need to watch a talented player for 5 minutes. A gem of a talent that uses both feet effectively. Not many players can use both feet the way she does. A great prospect to behold. They’ve beaten two very good teams so far. Let’s hope they keep the momentum going. It will be the real battle from the quarter finals. From all indications they look like a real contender for the title. All the best young ladies.
That was an awesome performance. Kudos to the coach and the girls. But I noticed the team has been drilled to always play long balls behind the defence while players in the attacking positions make the runs. It’ll be good if the coach can rejig a bit because yesterday South Korean’s defence cut out most of the balls and the only shot on target we had in 85 minutes resulted into that goal. We could have scored more, tbh if they had made more of such attempt. Overall, it was aww-inspiring performance.
Congratulations Congratulations Congratulations falconet, keep on shinning.
Fantastic Falconets. They have done so well. Let’s hope the NFF will also be fantastic by paying them their entitlements without delay!
Hi guys, i watched the first half of falconet game against South Korea one thing i love about these girls is the fact that the way they played the ball on the ground with so much confidence and i love their pressing ability my little advice to the coach is to work on their attack decision making so that they can be clinical in front of goal which will help them in due time i want randy waldrum to learn from this girls how to play the confidently
They play better than the SF, brilliant ball control and ball usage that even against a decent team they still find a way to dominate. Kudos to Danjuma!!!
African level is not same level with the world stage of the game.
What an exciting match! The Falconets really showed their skill and determination to secure their spot in the quarter-finals. I can’t wait to see how they perform against tougher competition! Keep up the great work, ladies!