Nigeria’s Flamingos finished in third position at the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup after edging out Germany 3-2 on penalties in their third-place encounter in Mumbai on Sunday afternoon.
Nigeria went 3-0 up but the Europeans raced back to the game, scoring thrice in seventeen minutes to peg the Flamingos back. For the third time in the tournament, Coach Bankole Olowookere’s team took to the spot kick.
The win over the Americans came after regulation time ended 1-1 while the loss to Colombia came in a 5-6 defeat on penalties. Nigeria’s last penalty shootout in the cadet championship, however, ended in a 3-2 sweet revenge for the West Africans who lost to Germany in their opening game.
Forward Opeyemi Akajaye deservedly won the Player of the Match gong for her stellar show on Sunday, making it the third time she scooped the prize since the competition started earlier in the month.
Sunday’s victory for Nigeria made them the second African side to have achieved the feat. Ghana clinched the bronze medal at the 2012 edition of the tournament.
The team is expected back in the country later in the week.
