Flamingoes edge closer to World cup berth after thrashing Congo 5-0

The Nigerian Women’s Under-17 team have moved a step closer to the India 2022 Women’s Under-17 World Cup after they demolished the Democratic Republic of Congo 5-0 at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin to ensure an 8-0 aggregate victory.

The Flamingoes had already done half of the job two weeks ago, when they wallopped DR Congo 3-0 in the first leg thanks to goals from Blessing, Oluwatunmininu, and Opeyemi. But they still came out, all guns blazing in the second leg like they were the ones trailing.

Nigeria were the better side from the start, and it took just five minutes before their dominance paid off. Opeyemi Ajakaye opened the scoring in the fifth minute to make in 4-0 on aggregate.

Just before the DR Congo ladies could regroup, Opeyemi got her second of the tie nine minutes later.

The Flamingoes continued to rain in the goals, as Oluwatunmininu chipped in with the third in the 23rd minute. There could have more goals, but the Nigerian ladies could not take all their chances. Nonetheless, they took their 3-0 lead into halftime.

The Nigerian youngsters did not relent in their efforts in the second half, and in the 62nd minute, Atume Doosuur scored the fourth. Then in the 88th minute, Taiwo scored the fifth for Nigeria to wrap up a 5-0 victory for the flamingoes.

On aggregate, it ended 8-0 and the victory ensured that the Nigerian women U-17 side would take on Egypt in the third round of qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in India.