The USA of America ended Nigeria’s FIFA U-17 Ladies’s World Cup title hopes with a 2-0 victory of their quarter-final conflict on the CFC Stadium, Santiago de los Caballeros, on Saturday, PUNCH Sports activities Additional stories.
Targets from Katharine Fuller and Kimball Ascanio have been sufficient to ship the Flamingos packing, because the Individuals avenged their 2022 quarter-final loss to Nigeria.
Fuller put the Individuals forward from the penalty spot within the forty third minute earlier than Ascanio doubled the lead within the 74th minute to seal victory for the three-time quarter-finalists.
The defeat ended Nigeria’s spectacular run within the match, the place that they had gained all their group matches in opposition to New Zealand, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic, scoring 9 targets and conceding only one.
Coach Bankole Olowookere made two first-half substitutions, bringing on Blessing Ifitezue and Victory Ekezie for Peace Effiong and Risikat Azeez, respectively, however these modifications did not shift the sport’s momentum.
The Individuals continued their dominance within the second half, with coach Natalia Astrain making tactical substitutions that proved efficient. Ascanio, who got here on in its place, made an instantaneous impression by scoring the essential second purpose.
The outcome marked a bitter finish to Nigeria’s marketing campaign, as they entered the match with excessive hopes of replicating their 2022 conquer the identical opponents, the place they gained by way of penalties after a 1-1 attract common time.
The Flamingos, who achieved their best-ever end of third place in India in 2022, aimed to surpass that file however confronted a decided American facet keen to succeed in their first semi-final since 2008.
The defeat additionally halted Nigeria’s spectacular streak on this yr’s match, the place they maintained an ideal file within the group stage for the third time of their historical past (2010, 2014, 2024).
The USA will now progress to the semi-finals, marking their first look within the final 4 since 2008, after they completed as runners-up within the match’s inaugural version.