Costa Rica 2014: Spain crashes Nigeria semi-final hopes

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Nigeria lost 3-0 to Spain in the quarter final game of the Fifa U17 Women’s World Cup played at the Estadio Edgardo Baltodano, Liberia on Friday morning.

A brace from Patri Guijarro plus another from Nahikari Garcia were all the Europeans needed to book a place in the semi final of the competition at the expense of Nikyu’s side hoping to break their quarter final jinx in the history of the championship.

Jorge Vilda’s girls took the lead in the 14th minute through via a penalty spot after Andrea Falcon was brought down by Ugochi Emenayo inside the penalty area of the Flamingoes.

Guijarro made no mistakes in slotting home the resulting kick despite goalkeeper Onyinyechukwu Okeke guessing the right direction.

Flamingoes could have equalised but Kanu’s cross from the left side of the Spaniards backline was made a mess of by captain Ihezuo who failed to convert from close range despite needing just a simple tap to get her side back into contention.

Garcia and Laura Dominguez were prevented from putting the Europeans ahead in the closing stages of the first half by goalkeeper Okeke who was by far the busier of the two shot-stoppers.

Spain continued their dominance on restart of the second half and got their rewarded when Garcia doubled her side lead. Dominguez set her up with a sublime pass before holding off a Nigeria defender before beating the advancing goalkeeper.

Guijarro completed her brace in the 71st minute after forcing the ball past Okeke following a ferocious strike from Sandra Herndandez from a 45 degree angle that slipped through the impressive Nigeria goalkeeper.

The result ended a seven-match unbeaten run for Nigeria at the tournament dating back to 2012, and fell one match short of the record sequence established by Japan between 2010 and 2012.