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The Nigerian girls got their only goal of the match as early as in the 2nd minute of play through a pull out by Joy Jegede, which was pointed by the goal keeper but Ebere Orji smashed the rebound inside the open net. From then onwards the Nigerian girls took complete control of the match, garnering 51% ball possession in the first half against their opponents’ 49%.
Columbia got her first corner kick in the 6th minute but the Nigerian defense line frustrated their efforts. The falconets got their own corner kick in the 15th minute but they lost the ball outside the yard box. The Columbians also got another corner kick in the 16th minute, which made no difference.
First yellow card of the match went to Amarachi Okoronkwo in the 25th minute for missing a bicycle kick and kicking a Columbian player in the process; Natali Gatia also got a yellow for challenging the referee.
The South American girls got another corner kick in the 26th minute and the Nigerian defense made sure it did not cause them any damage. In the 30th minute, Osinachi Ohale got injured on the nose and was taken outside for medical attention and later returned after the bleeding was stopped.
The 30th minute also saw Oparanozie being brought down by a fallen Columbian defender for what should have been a penalty kick, but the centre referee waved ‘play on’ to everyone’s surprise. In the 38th minute, Esther Sunday was replaced with Charity Adule. She gave a good account of herself before she was replaced; though she lost several chances.
Katerin Castro of Columbia also replaced Daniela Montoya in the 43rd minute. In the 45th minute, Ukaonu’s dropping narrowly missed the net and denied Nigeria the opportunity of increasing the goal tally.
The game was particularly a scramble for the mid field as both sides tried by all means to take control of the mid field. The South Americans tried to juggle the ball from one end of the pitch to the other, but the West Africans relied more on the flanks, where Oparanozie and Ebere Orji continued to swap positions leaving the Columbians confused.
The falconets held on tenaciously to their one goal advantage till the end of the first half. On resumption of the 2nd half, Nigeria’s ball possession increased to 53% as against their opponents’ 47%.
Columbia got a corner kick in the 46th minute while Nigeria got one each in the 48th and 55th minutes respectively, but none produced any anxious moment.
Maria Montoya replaced Paola Sanchez in the 56th minute, while Adekwagh replaced Amarachi Okoronkwo in the 67th minute. The falconets got two more corner kicks in the 70th and 75th minutes and the South Americans got one in the 79th minute.
Ebere Orji got a yellow card in the 80th minute; she also failed to convert Oparanozie’s cross into an empty net in the 85th minute. Melissa Ortiz replaced Carolina Arias in the 86th minute.
Helen Ukaonu got a yellow card in the 89th minute. The 4 minutes added time was tension soaked as the South Americans piled more pressure on the West African team to see if they could equalize in the dying minutes, but they were contained by the Nigerian team. When the centre referee sounded the whistle to signify the end of the match, the falconets were full of excitement, while the Columbian goalie wept bitterly for conceding such a cheap goal that eventually saw them out of the tournament. Nigeria will now play Germany in the finals; Germany had earlier beaten Korea Republic 5-1.
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