U-20 Women’s World Cup: Setback for Falconets as Germany triumph

By Mark Ogagan

Nigeria’s U-20 Women’s World Cup campaign suffered a setback on Wednesday night as the Falconets fell 1-3 to Germany in Bogota, Colombia.

The result secures Germany’s place in the knockout stages, while leaving the Falconets with work to do in their final group match.

In an end-to-end encounter, both sides created numerous chances, but it was Germany who struck first. Cora Zicai’s pinpoint cross found Alara Sehitler, who nodded home in the 17th minute to give the Europeans the lead.

Nigeria’s star performer, Chiamaka Okwuchukwu, had earlier come close to opening the scoring with a magnificent solo run, only to be denied by German goalkeeper Rebecca Adamczyk.

Okwuchukwu’s persistence paid off early in the second half when she capitalized on a defensive mix-up to draw Nigeria level.

However, Germany regained the lead through Sofie Zdebel, again assisted by the impressive Zicai.

Okwuchukwu later had a goal ruled out for offside, before Germany sealed the win in stoppage time with Sarah Ernst’s powerful header.

The defeat leaves Nigeria on three points from two matches, with their final group game against Venezuela in Cali now crucial to their hopes of progressing.