By Ifeyinwa Ogwo :
Nigeria falconets were chased out of the U20 Federation of International Football Association(FIFA) Women World Cup at Costa Rica by the Netherlands girls with a 2-0 defeat in the quarter-final series.
The first goal against the falconet was delivered by Zera Hulswit in the 11th minute of the first half and the falconets continued to press harder at the Dutch defense, but the two Dutch central defenders, Samantha Van Diemen, and Senna Koeleman kept them at bay.
Still, in the first half, the Dutch had another chance and broke through the right once more, with the falconets Captain Oluwatosin Demehin and Omowumi Oshobukola in a fumble, giving Ziva Henry the chance to bundle the ball past goalkeeper Omini Oyono for a second goal.
Speaking in an interview, the falconets coach, Christopher Danjuma noted that football is a game whereby an opponent searches for mistakes and capitalized on them for their victory.
“I think we had 2 mistakes in the first half of the game and were punished for it, and we had chances too but could not utilize them effectively.
” It is quite unfortunate for our loss because nobody wants to go into a game and lose; we wanted to win all the way but it did not happen. About the penalty the referee denied us, I had hopes that if the penalty was granted, the game would have dragged to an extra time, he reiterated.
He then praised the girls for their excellent performances and passion in all the games not minding that they were selected from local leagues to compete with international experienced players, noting that their future in the senior team is secured.
