Nigeria defeated South Korea 2-0 on 12 June, Tuesday in their Group A clash to stitch a good little comeback after they had lost their opening game in FIFA Women’s World Cup.
It is to be noted that Nigeria had lost their opening game to Norway 3-0 and needed a big win against South Korea to stay on course in this Women’s World Cup. South Korea were also coming on the back of a 4-0 defeat to France.
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Nigeria started well in this game and should have taken the lead in only the eight minute of the match but captain Desire Oparanozie’s header went straight to the Korean goalkeeper.
Team manager Thomas Dennerby had earlier handed a debut game to goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie and she left one and all impressed with her skills- covering her territory well.
Nigeria took the lead in the first half, when in just the 29th minute of the match, Kim Do Yong scored an own goal.
After taking the lead, however, Nigeria never looked back and dominated the game for the remainder of the first half and then only counter attacked in the second half- waiting for the Koreans to commit a mistake.
In the 75th minute, Nigeria doubled their lead through Asisat Oshoala’s goal, post a good bit of work by Chidinma Okeke.
The Nigerian team then managed to register their first win at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019- their first win in the competition since 2011, when they had defeated Canada by 1-0.
Interestingly, this was the first occasion in which they won the match with a two goal lead achieving similar result way back in 1999 against Denmark.
The win against South Korea has made Nigeria the first African team to register a win in the 2019 edition of the tournament.
The Nigerian team will now play hosts France on 18 June, Tuesday (IST). Meanwhile, South Korea will meet Norway on the same day in their FIFA Women’s World Cup campaign ahead.
