Nigeria’s U17 women’s national team saw their FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup journey come to a disappointing end on Tuesday after suffering a 4-0 defeat to Italy in the Round of 16 at the Mohammed VI Football Academy in Morocco, Soccernet.ng reports.
The Flamingos, who advanced as one of the best third-placed teams, were up against a well-drilled Italian side that had won all three of their group games.
Despite a lively start, Nigeria struggled to impose itself against Italy’s precision and power.
Nigeria’s captain, Shakirat Moshood, had a golden opportunity to put her side ahead in the second minute but fired straight at the goalkeeper.
She remained Nigeria’s most enterprising player in attack, forcing an excellent save from the Italian goalkeeper midway through the first half. However, her final ball too often lacked composure.
Italy punished Nigeria’s defensive frailties on the stroke of halftime.
A misplaced clearance allowed Anna Copelli to pounce, her low effort sneaking beneath goalkeeper Sylvia Echefu to hand Italy a 1-0 lead heading into the break.
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VAR denial and defensive errors compound Nigeria’s misery
Nigeria briefly thought they had equalised in the 55th minute when the ball hit the back of the net following a goalmouth scramble. But their celebrations were cut short after a VAR review ruled out the goal for a foul on the Italian goalkeeper.
Moments later, Italy doubled their advantage through a moment of misjudgment from Echefu, who was caught off her line by a deep cross-turned-shot from Venturelli.
The goal sapped Nigeria’s confidence, and their resistance completely fell apart in the 63rd minute when Robino curled home a superb free-kick off the crossbar to make it 3-0. Giudici added a fourth in stoppage time.
Despite the best efforts of forward Queens Joseph, Nigeria’s top scorer at the tournament with three goals, the Flamingos failed to find a consolation. Their defeat means Nigeria’s dream of equalling or surpassing their 2022 semi-final finish ended prematurely.
Elsewhere, hosts Morocco were hammered 6-0 by North Korea, while Brazil eased past China 3-0. The Netherlands edged the United States 7-6 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.