Shekinat Abubakar
Nigeria’s Flamingos have made history after beating Japan 2-1 to win their first-ever FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup title in the final played on Saturday night in Rabat, Morocco.
Awawu Bashiru opened the scoring for Nigeria in the first half after her powerful long-range strike was spilled by Japan goalkeeper Kou Kadowaki, before the Flamingos added a second goal in the second half to seal the famous victory against the 2014 champions.
The victory makes Nigeria the first African country to ever win the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, completing a remarkable campaign that saw the team beat Brazil 3-1 in the semi-final to reach the final for the first time in the country’s history.
Coach Akeem Busari and his girls will now return home as world champions, with celebrations already erupting across Nigeria as fans hail the Flamingos for putting the country on top of the world in women’s youth football.
