Nigeria’s hopes of reaching the final of the semifinals of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup were dashed in the early hours of Monday morning as Christopher Danjuma’s team were beaten 2-0 by Netherlands in the second quarterfinals match of the evening.
Poor defending and finishing at the other end despite huge promise shown by the forward players were the undoing for the west Africans who were beaten finalists in 2010 and 2014.
The Falconets went threatening as early the third minute through Flourish Sabastine from the left flank and almost recreated the goal attempt four minutes later but a penalty was not awarded to Christopher Danjuma’s team despite striker going down under a challenge.
Netherlands however went ahead in the 11th minute through Zera Hulswit whose dipping shot inside the 18 yard area beat Monie Oyono in goal after a sloppy clearance from the Nigerian defence.
Chiamaka Okwuchukwu’s cushioned header soon after the Europeans’ goal went straight into the hands of the keeper and a good chance to restore parity wasted.
In the 15th minute, Sabastine intercepted a loose ball and surged forward but her powerful left footed shot was parried away for a corner.
The VAR was called into duty to ascertain if a foul had occurred inside the box but the review showed that the infringement was outside the danger zone.
With half an hour played, a long range strike by Abiodun rattled the crossbar but Okwuchukwu could not finish on the rebound. She however won a corner kick.
Another counter attack by the Dutch side led to a second goal in the 33rd minute as the usual dependable Demehin failed to clear the when it deflected onto her path which Ziva Henry pounced on to score, with the ball squirming through the hands of the Nigerian keeper.
In the 47th minute, Bashirat Amoo went for a long range effort like her midfield partner Abiodun in the first half but hers was way too high to trouble the Dutch side.
Okwuchukwu’s low cross from the right channel in the 55th was very poor as the ball rolled unhindered into the hands of the Dutch keeper.
On the hour mark, the Super Falconets had a hat-trick of chances but their shots on target never troubled the opposition keeper.
The VAR delayed proceedings for few minutes as a possible red card against Netherlands number 4 for a foul on Joy Jerry was reviewed. She got only a yellow.
The Falconets thought they had won a penalty in the second half minute of added time but after a rather long look at the monitor, referee Marianela Araya from Costa Rica ruled that it was a ball to hand much to the disappointment of the Nigerian team and the fans in the stands.
