Nigeria’s under-17 women’s national team also known as the Flamingos defeated Chile 2-1 in the final group game played on Monday.
The team led by Head Coach Bankole Olowookere at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India lost their opening game 1-2 to Germany but bounced back to thrash New Zealand 4-0 in their second group game.
After playing their opening two group games at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Margao, the Flamingos took on Chile at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar.
The Flamingos started off with a bang as midfielder Blessing Emmanuel converted a pass by Opeyemi Ajakaye as early as the fourth minute.
Chile dominated possession but the Flamingos created the better chances and went to the halftime break ahead.
In the second half, it was more of the same as Chile showed desperation committing more players in attack while the Flamingos held on to their advantage.
In the 82nd minute the Flamingos scored their second goal as Bisola Mosaku converted a pass through to her by Amina Bello.
Tali Rovner converted a penalty for Chile in additional time to set up a tense ending to the game.
Chile won their first game against New Zealand but suffered a 6-0 drubbing at the hands of European champions Germany hence they were in desperate need of victory against Nigeria.
The Flamingos would hold on to claim all three points and finish their group stage with six points from a possible nine.
The victory means that the Flamingos finished as runners-up in group B as Germany defeat New Zealand 3-1 to claim the top spot.
The Flamingos qualify for the quarterfinals and now wait for their opponents from group A with Morocco, Brazil, and the United States of America.
