August 22, (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s female Under-20 team, the Super Falconets, were beaten 2-0 by their Netherlands opponents in the quarter-finals of the 2022 U-20 Women’s World Cup, bringing their impressive campaign in Costa Rica to a premature end.
As THEWILL reported, the young ladies had won all three of their group matches, including an unexpected victory over France in their opening Group C fixture. For the quarter-finals, the Netherlands, who came in second in their group, were drawn against Nigeria after the Super Falconets finished top of Group C.
Early in the game, a defensive lapse allowed Zera Hilswit find the net for the Dutch team to give them the lead, putting Nigeria at a disadvantage in the 8th minute of play. Attempts by Abiodun Deborah, Mercy Idoko and Flourish Chioma to pull one back for the Super Falconets were unsuccessful as the Dutch goalkeeper, Lisan Alkemade, gave nothing away.
It got worse for Nigeria when Ziva Henry scored the Netherlands’ second goal in the 33rd minute to due to another defensive error. Nigeria pushed forward to close the gap in the scores, but their attempts were in vain until the referee awarded the Super Falconets a penalty in stoppage time.
However, a VAR review reversed the earlier decision to award the spot kick and the Dutch ladies held on to advance to the semi-finals with a 2-0 win over the Super Falconets.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
