Goals by Amina Bello, Chiamaka Okwuchukwu, Flourish Sabastine and substitute Joy Igbokwe against Venezuela in Cali on Saturday gave Nigeria’s Falconets a handsome 4-0 win over Venezuela and ensured progress to the Round of 16 of the ongoing FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia.
Having missed a gilt-edged chance just moments earlier, Amina Bello didn’t make the same mistake twice as she buried a delightful cut-back from the lively Okwuchukwu to get things started early on.
Provider then scorer as Okwuchukwu rose to meet a corner that had been played short and then whipped in to make it 2-0 in the 28th minute.
Just when Venezuela had started to come back into things, with Falconets keeper Faith Omilana pulling off two smart saves to deny Genesis Hernandez and Sabrina Araujo, Nigeria struck again.
It was another delightful ball from the eye-catching Okwuchukwu that teed things up for Flourish Sabastine, who had time and space to sweep home past a stranded Tibayre Rodriguez to give Nigeria a three goals margin before the break.
Even with the tempo slowing in the second period, Nigeria remained on top and it took a goal-line clearance from Venezuela captain Gabriela Angulo to stop Chioma Olise making it four.
In the fourth minute of added time after 90 minutes), substitute Joy Igbokwe spotted Rodriguez off her line and sent in a rocket from all of 40 yards that flew over the retreating keeper to cap a dominant performance.
Following the Venezuala win, Nigeria finished second in Group D, which means they will face either Japan or Austria in the Round of 16 to be played in Bogota on Thursday.
Debutants Cameroon also gave the continent cause for celebration on the final day of Group A action by defeating Australia 2-0 in Bogota.
The win saw Cameroon finish level on points, goal difference and goals scored with group opponents Mexico, but they ended up third by that inferior disciplinary record under the TCS model.
The four points were enough for the African debutants to secure progression as one of the best third-place finishers.
