Nigeria’s Under-17 female football team, the Flamingos, shone like a thousand stars, Saturday night, in Santiago, Dominican Republic, as they overwhelmed Ecuador 4-0 to book a quarter final ticket in the ongoing 2024 U17 Women’s World Cup with supreme confidence.
With the ruthlessness that the Flamingos displayed on Saturday, they have proved to the world that their third place (bronze medal) finish in the last edition of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals was not a fluke.
Their quarter final ticket already in the kitty, the Flamingos will now keep a date with hosts Dominican Republic in their final group match on Tuesday night. Having secured the maximum six points from their first two matches, with eight goals for and one against, Tuesday’s final group match is a mere formality.
The Flamingos kept Ecuador’s goalkeeper, Maria Rodriguez, busy for most part of the match forcing her to make daring saves.
She kept a clean sheet for the first quarter of the game until the 28th minute when she buckled and Nigeria’s playmaker, Shakirat Moshood, sent her groping for the ball for the Flamingos’ first goal.
The first half ended 1-0 in favour of Nigeria. But the stadium was on fire again in the 54th minute, when Harmony Chidi got her first goal of the tournament after masterfully putting the ball in the back of the net off a pass from Aishat Animashaun.
Peace Effiong made it three for the African giants when, in the 66 minute, she, like Chidi, scored her first goal of the tournament, after skillfully connecting the ball off a faulty back pass Ecuador’s substitute goalkeeper Pozo.
Shakirat Moshood was on song again in the 96 minute after tucking the ball into the far right corner of the net to complete a 4-0 routing of Ecuador.