Nigeria’s Flamingoes opened their campaign at the 2022 U-17 Women’s World Cup in India with a 2-1 loss to Germany.
Captain Dah Zossu Alvine was brought down in the 29th minute and 15-year old Miracle Usani gave Nigeria the lead as she excellently fired the resulting free-kick into the net.
The defender chose to place the ball low which went past the German wall as Nigeria led 1-0 at half-time.
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Few minutes after half-time, Flamingos coach made two changes. Taiwo Afolabi replaced Amina Bello while Bisola Mosaku came in for captain, Alvine Dah Zossu.
Hamburg forward Svea Stold equalized for Germany in the 49th minute after a nice short corner routine.
Mara Alber scored the winner for the Germans in the 61st minute to claim all three points.
Nigeria dominated and had few chances in the early stages. Opeyemi Ajakaye almost got the Flamingos in front but the woodwork denied her fantastic strike from inside the box.
Germany also had two fine chances in the first half as goalkeeper, Faith Omilana pulled a wonderful save in the 26th minute to keep Nigeria’s lead in the game.
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Forward Opeyemi Ajakaye came close again in the second-half after strings of attacks from the Flamingos but couldn’t find an equalizer as the Germans ran away with the 2-1 lead after a compact defensive setup at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Margao.
The Flamingos of Nigeria have a storied history at the tournament, appearing in five of the previous six editions except the last edition and making it to the quarterfinals stage thrice in 2010, 2012, and 2014 while Germany have also never won the tournament.
Nigeria will face New Zealand in their second group fixture on Friday, October 14, 2022 while Germany face Chile.
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