Nigeria’s participation in the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup this year came to an end on Saturday night as the United States of America eliminated the 2022 bronze medallists from the Dominican Republic with a goal in each half.
Three of Coach Bankole Olowookere’s first eleven players were injured in the first forty-five minutes, ruthlessly undermining his game plan.
The first to be forcibly removed was Forward Blessing Ifitezue, who was later replaced by Peace Effiong. After that, Rokibat Azeez took Onyedikachi Ekezie’s place.
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Jumai Adebayo, the defender, also went down but was able to get back up after a few minutes.
In the 9th minute, Harmony Chidi, the top scorer in the African qualification campaign, raised the ball too high from a free kick, and in the 28th minute, she again put too much force into her effort.
Mary Long’s superb strike in the box, which Christiana Uzoma did a good job of parrying out for a corner, stretched the custodian a minute later.
In the 43rd minute, Fuller scored from the penalty spot after Shakirat Moshood had fouled an opponent in the box, giving the USA, who had lost to Nigeria in a penalty shootout in India two years prior, the lead.
In extra time, it would have been 2-0, but Adebayo made a great save to keep the ball out as the Americans surged on.
Captain Taiwo Afolabi grabbed the ball from sluggish defenders in the 64th minute, but her attempt was parried for a corner.
In the 71st minute, Fuller had a chance to extend the USA’s lead but her attempt narrowly missed the mark.
Afolabi was hacked in the middle three minutes later, and Kim Ascanio converted the through pass by putting it through the legs of the charging Uzoma to give the USA a 2-0 lead.
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