Nigeria coasted to a 4-1 victory over flummoxed New Zealand as the 2024 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals rolled into action in Santiago de los Caballeros on Wednesday.
Shakirat Moshood scored one of the competition’s fastest goals since it was launched 16 years ago, when she rounded the defence of the girls from Down Under to score the first goal after only 80 seconds at the CFC Stadium.
The precocious Faridat Abdulwahab rocked the crossbar seven minutes later from 23 yards, and in the 13th minute, Nigeria went two goals up when defender Taiwo Adegoke scored from well outside the box,
Captain Taiwo Afolabi stung the goalkeeper’s palms from close range in the 28th minute, and from the resultant corner kick, Abdulwahab easily lifted the ball over the goalie from 16 yards for Nigeria’s third goal.
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In the second half, the Flamingos continued their raid on the opposition goal, and eight minutes into the restart, it was 4-0 after Afolabi’s looping header from Adegoke’s cross from the right sailed over the goalkeeper into the net.
On the hour, Saxon scored a goal right from the training ground, collecting the ball from a corner kick and doing a smart turn to shoot past goalkeeper Christiana Uzoma, thus pulling one back for the New Zealanders.
Flamingos will take on debutants Ecuador on Saturday, and victory will take them to the tournament’s knockout stage.
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