After years of knocking, Nigeria finally qualified for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup final, following a brilliant 3-1 win over Brazil in the semi-final on Wednesday night at the Mohammed VI Football Complex, Pitch 3, in Rabat.
Now, all eyes turn to the final on Saturday, Nov 7 at 7:30 PM WAT / Rabat against Japan, who eliminated defending champions North Korea after a penalty shootout in the first semi-final on Wednesday.
How Nigeria Made History
Nigeria started brightly, with Oluwakemi Adegbuyi and Oluebube Umejiaku both trying their luck early, and Queen Joseph coming very close in the 21st minute, only to be denied by a big save from the Brazilian goalkeeper.
Despite generating multiple opportunities, the match remained goalless at half-time.
Addressing the first-half frustration, head coach Hakeem Busari noted:
“When your team is having brilliant chances of this nature, what you are looking out for as a coach is for them to compose themselves and bury one of the chances. It’s a game of knockout. If we didn’t score and they didn’t score, we go to penalties, and if a team whom you lose a lot of chances to, like 5 to 8, and you now play penalties to decide and lose to that team, it’s a painful task.”
But the second half was a different story. Just eleven minutes after the restart, Queen Joseph finally got the goal Nigeria deserved.
The star of the night, no doubt, was midfielder Awawu Bashiru, who scored two goals in nine minutes.
In the 71st minute, she finished beautifully to make it 2-0, and before Brazil could recover, she struck again in the 80th minute to make it 3-0.
History and Relief For Flamingos
Nigeria recorded 30 attempts in the game, underscoring how well the Flamingos dominated.
Coach Busari can finally heave a sigh of relief after the goals rained in the second half.
“If you have not played well or get the chances, you will be asking why. Those are the things on my mind, and I say, let’s just bury one. I knew immediately that if we buried one, they would come out, and we will get more opportunities to score.”
Brazil pulled one back late through Greise Kelly in the 89th minute, but it was too little, too late.
The victory guarantees Nigeria’s best-ever finish in the competition’s history, surpassing their previous bronze-medal performance in India four years ago. The Flamingos also became the first African nation to reach the final of the U17 Women’s World Cup.
