ALAJUELA, COSTA RICA - AUGUST 14: Esther Onyenezide of Nigeria celebrates with teammates after scoring the first goal of their team during the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Costa Rica 2022 group C match between Korea Republic and Nigeria at Alejandro Morera Soto on August 14, 2022 in Alajuela, Costa Rica. (Photo by Buda Mendes - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
The Falconets of Nigeria booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica after beating South Korea 1-0. The win is their second win in the tournament, they beat France in the first game to end their unbeaten run in the group stage.
They are now through to the next stage as they have picked up six points as a result of two wins in two games. They are in Group C and are the group leaders their game was delayed by an hour after a storm hit the Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium in Alajuela.
Suin Lee’s free-kick rattled the West Africans’ left-hand upright before goalkeeper Kim Kyeonghee produced an acrobatic save to deny Esther Onyenezide from long range after the break. But Onyenezide scored with a thunderous strike from outside the box in the 83rd minute and fabulous goalkeeping from Omini Oyono helped Nigeria seal a second 1-0 win and a spot in the quarter-finals.
Speaking after the game, the player of the match Onyenezide said: “We are a giant in Africa and fear no other team.” She also said: ”We’ve trained an unbelievable amount and if you look back at qualifying, then we’ve every right to be confident out here whenever we play. We want to show the world that we’re not just big in African terms but that we can beat any other team.”
The Falconets of Nigeria lost in the tournament’s final in 2010 and 2014 to Germany but look prepared to lift the trophy this time. The Falconets and the Black Stars of Ghana are the only Africans in the tournament and Ghana has lost their two opening games. The Falconets will face already-eliminated Canada in their final group game on Thursday.