Falconets in Make or Mar Clash with Haiti

U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

The Netherlands first to berth q’final with victory over Ghana

Nigeria’s Falconets are condemned to beat Haiti today at the ongoing FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in France for them to have any chance of progressing to the quarter final.

Chris Danjuma’s wards lost their opening game to Germany in St Marlo while China also grabbed three maximum points from the Haitians to lead the Group D pairing.

Falconets that played in the lost the 2010 and 2014 finals to Germany are favourites to beat Haiti in today’s clash but would need to do so in style, firing more goals.

Anything short of a win will translate to early exit for the glory seeking Nigerians.

Yesterday, Netherlands became the first team to qualify for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup France 2018 quarter-finals after earning a 4-0 win over Ghana, as they maintained their 100 per cent start in Group A.

While the West Africans started brightly, it did not take long for the Netherlands to get into gear. Two spurned chances could have rocked their confidence, but they did not have to dwell on them long, going ahead on 21 minutes.

Three goals in 11 minutes put them in complete control, with Aniek Nouwen’s downward header at the back post getting the debutants rolling on the back of their slender win over New Zealand.

Having netted in their opener, Fenna Kalma made no mistake when put through by Victoria Pelova, before converting with a superbly taken volley to see her move joint-top of the scoring charts.

The pace dropped after the break, with the Netherlands sitting comfortably, but Pelova and Kalma switched rolls, as the duo exchanged passes before the former stroked home to add some gloss to the Oranje’s victory.

New Zealand’s goalless draw against hosts France later in the day meant that the Netherlands became the first team to confirm their place in the knockout stages at France 2018, while the result confirmed that Ghana will be unable to qualify for the last eight.

GROUP D

Teams P W D L GF GA +/- PTS

China 1 1 – – 2 1 1 3

Germany 1 1 – – 1 0 1 3

Haiti 1 – – 1 1 2 -1 0

Nigeria 1 – – 1 – 1 -1 0