A record-breaking performance from The Flamingos!
It has been an amazing year for Nigerian sportswomen all around the world from Tobi Amusan becoming a world champion and record holder, to the Super falcons qualifying for the Women’s World Cup, to Ese Brume winning medals too and Asisat Oshoala clinching her 5th CAF award.
The Flamingos have added themselves to that list as they clinched the bronze medal at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World cup hosted by India. It is the very first time an African team will get that far in the competition or even clinch the bronze medal.
They began the tournament impressively by scoring the first goal against their first opponent Germany but they eventually lost that game by 2 goals to 1.
They picked up pace in the next game against New Zealand as they dismantled them by 4 goals to nil thanks to goals from Amina Bello, Miracle Usani, Edidiong Etim and Afolabi. In the third group game against Chile, the Flamingos dominated from start to finish as they clinched another 2:1 victory to qualify for the next round of the competition.
They were billed to face the United States of America in the next round of the competition which was going to be a stern test. In the 26th minute of the game, the Flamingos got a penalty that was converted by Josephine Edafe to give them the lead but a few minutes later in the 40th minute, Amalia Villareal drew the USA level. The game dragged on till shootouts and luckily the Flamingos won as the United States missed two of their 5 penalties. The Flamingos qualified for the semi-finals where they were billed to play Columbia.
The game against Columbia was a much tougher test as the game ended goalless in regular time and dragged on to shootouts. The Flamingoes scored all their first 4 penalties while the Columbians missed one in their first four. Sadly, Josephine Edafe missed the crucial penalty that would have sent them to the finals and the shootout got dragged into sudden death. The Columbians scored their next two spot-kicks while the Flamingos missed one and scored 1 which was not enough to seal them a spot in the finals. They however still had a third-place game against their group-stage opponent Germany.
The Flamingos started the game like a house on fire taking the lead in the 20th minute. They went ahead to get two more goals before the 64th minute but in a dramatic fashion between the 64th and 90th minute, Germany scored 3 beautiful goals to level the score line and caused the game to drag into a shootout again. The Germans however missed 3 of their 5 penalties and Nigeria scored 3 of their own 5 to secure the Bronze medal.
#Sport is a segment that keeps you abreast of everything happening in the world of sports, shares facts, and sometimes also takes you down memory lane to relive some unforgettable sporting moments. In this edition, we are looking at the Flamingo’s record-breaking performance at the Women’s U-17 World cup in India.
