Nigeria vs USA, 2010  U-20 Quarterfinal

Nigeria win 4:2 on penalties after drawing 1:1 at full and extra-time with the USA.

Naivete caused the Falconets to concede a goal from a corner kick in the 9th minute of the game, when they failed to mark a USA player on the near side of the post who ran away from her marker to redirect the low driven corner into the Nigerian goal.

In the whole of the first-half, USA had Nigeria on the back foot, with Nigeria looking ragged, unable to string together decent passes. The USA had the better share of possession and it showed in the number of corners Nigeria conceded.  The former however failed to convert that advantage into goals.

On resumption, Nigeria was the better side, dominating possession, and easily dicing the USA midfield. They had to contend with the officiating in the process, as the referee from England awarded a number of questionable decisions to the USA. The crowd voiced its disapproval through cat-call, boos, and whistling.

Nigeria managed to get one call their way from the referee in the 79th, a few yards outside the 18-yard of the USA. Taken indirectly, Helen Ukaonu, the Nigerian number 17, collected the subsequent pass and let fly a right-footer that flew into the far right corner of the USA goal, leaving the USA goalkeeper, Bianca Henninger, stranded and beaten.

It was the wind in the sail that the Falconet needed as they proceeded to dominate the USA for the rest of the second-half, the game however ended a draw at full time.

The first half of the extra-time saw Nigeria continuing were they left off, easily besting the USA and would have taken the lead through Desire Oparanozie who shot wide with only the goalkeeper and the goal at her mercy.

The second-half of extra-time, however, belonged more to the USA than Nigeria, where the former came near to scoring twice, with only the Nigerian keeper letting the Falconets off the hook by a splendid save and then the cross-bar, when a dipping shot taken from the midfield bounced off the woodwork, which the Nigerians scrambled to clear away. Nigeria improved towards the end of the second-half of the extra-time to force the game to penalty kicks.

With Nigeria's first kick converted by captain, Joy Jegede, goalkeeper, Alaba Jonathan did enough to stop the USA's first kick. Nigeria proceeded to convert four more kicks, although the third had to be taken three times, with the USA keeper saving the first two but being adjudged both times to have moved before the ball was kicked by Esther Sunday, who made no mistake the third time around.

The final kick by the USA flew over the bar to immediately draw cheers and jubilation from the Nigerian players and fans but despair and tears from the USA players, especially Sydney Leroux, the otherwise influential player, who missed the final kick.

It was a tale of players who began the match with little confidence but soaring high as the match progressed and in the process finding and believing in themselves.

The Falconets  played more like the Nigeria we've known over the years rather than the lackadaisical way they played against Mexico.

If they can maintain this level of intensity and confidence in the semifinal against Colombia, reaching the final of the competition would be a strong possibility.

We shouldn't get ahead of ourselves, however.

I watched most of the match and you captured it all. Good picture with economy of words. Nigerian girls need to work a bit more on their discipline , though. the number of cards dished out to them is an indication that they have a lot to learn in competitions of this standard. More technical dept also required.

I watched most of the match and you captured it all. Good picture with economy of words. Nigerian girls need to work a bit more on their discipline , though. the number of cards dished out to them is an indication that they have a lot to learn in competitions of this standard. More technical dept also required.

Thanks for your response.

You're right about the cards.

My own assessment is that the players are individually gifted but lack technical depth. I think that was one of the differences between our team and the USA team. USA teams tend to be technically (by this I mean basic technique, like how to shoot, shield the ball, etc) strong but low on natural giftedness.

The lack of finesse in the Falconets showed itself in the first 30 minutes of the game, where the Falconets could not hold on to the ball and consistently executed errant passes and poor shots on goals. In fact, I thought we would lose on penalties but I'm happy I was wrong.

If the Falconets can compose themselves and use pressure marking the way they did in the second-half, the probability of beating Colombia will be very high. They are strong in the midfield but poor in the defense (especially, in defending corners. Recall, that the very first goal Nigeria conceded, the one against England, was through a poor defense of a corner kick). They also need to work on their finishing. That's a factor that can make a difference between victory and defeat in tight matches.

On the whole, the Falconets deserve to be congratulated. They defeated one of the strongest teams in the competition.

Again, thanks for responding.

abeg poster why that niajababe wan fight ref after the penalty shoot out

abeg poster why that niajababe wan fight ref after the penalty shoot out

Actually, they didn't show the incident very well. I only saw snippet of it, and even then I wasn't aware she was after the referee. If she was, it must probably have been a reaction to the calls the referee made during the match.

But even if so, I do not think that reaction was warranted especially after winning the match.

she might be banned