By Boris Esono Nwenfor
BUEA, PAV – Nigeria’s Falconets were knocked out of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup after conceding a stoppage-time goal in a 1-0 quarter-final defeat by Colombia in Łódź on Sunday.
Valerin Loboa scored in the 92nd minute to send Colombia into the semi-finals after Nigeria had been reduced to 10 players late in the second half. The quarter-final remained closely contested for much of the afternoon, with neither side able to establish a clear advantage before the interval.
Nigeria created one of the best opportunities of the opening half when Tumininu Adeshina unleashed a long-range effort that forced Colombia goalkeeper Luisa Agudelo to make a save over the crossbar.
Colombia returned from the break with greater attacking intent and began to put pressure on the Nigerian defence. Mariana Silva twice found openings inside the Nigeria penalty area, but goalkeeper Christiana Uzoma kept the scores level with two important saves.
Nigeria’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals suffered a setback in the 77th minute when Kafayat Masifere was shown a red card following a dangerous challenge on Samantha Rodriguez.
Down to 10 players, Nigeria were forced to defend deeper as Colombia looked for a winning goal. The Falconets nevertheless remained organised and appeared to have done enough to take the match into extra time.
But Colombia found the breakthrough in the second minute of stoppage time. Uzoma initially saved the Colombian effort, but Loboa reacted fastest to the rebound and fired home to give Colombia a 1-0 lead.
Nigeria had little time to respond as the late goal ended their hopes of progressing to the last four. The defeat brought the Falconets’ campaign to an end at the quarter-final stage, with their disciplined defensive display ultimately undone by Colombia’s late winner.
