Nigeria’s Flying Eagles booked a place in round 16 of the U-20 World Cup tournament after beating their opponents Italian Azzurri 2-0 at the Estadio Malvinas Argentinas on Wednesday evening.
Salim Fago Lawal’s opener came in the 61 minutes of the explosive encounter while Jude Sunday fired his salvo into the goal mouth of Italian Azzuri at the 95 minutes during extra time in the Group D matchday two clash.
Fago had largely been ineffective in the 53 minutes he was on the pitch for the Flying Eagles against the Dominican Republic on Sunday night.
Also read: U-20 W/Cup: Flying Eagles down Debutant Dominican Republic In Group Opener
He was the hero as Nigeria booked their ticket to the knockout rounds with their second consecutive win at the tournament.
Italy started well on the night but the Flying Eagles were not to be cowed.
Midfieder Daniel Daga had the sight of the goal in the eight minute for the West Africans but his low drive went off target.
Nigeria had their first corner in the 15th minute but Salim Fago headed over the bar following a good delivery.
Italy went close in the 21st minute when Pafundi danced past two Nigerian tackles, his low cross found Cesare Casadei who sent a snap shot onto the cross bar. Nigeria cleared the ball afterwards.
Jude Sunday was proving to be the most exciting Nigerian attacker and just before the half-hour mark space opened up a bit for him on the edge of the box but his final shot whistled past the left post.
Shortly after, Agbalaka got at the end of another Nigerian corner but he was only able to head wide.
The Flying Eagles finally worked the Italian goalkeeper after Fago ran unto Abdullahi’s throughball and lashed a fierce drive that the goalie pushed past for a corner.
Agbalaka handled the ball in the box for a potential Italian penalty but VAR came to Nigeria’s rescue as it spotted an earlier Italian handball.
Late in the half, Aniagboso had to be alert to smartly turn a fierce drive from the distance over the post for an Italian corner that came to naught.
The Flying Eagles had done a great job keeping out an Italian team that scored three times in the opening 30 minutes against Brazil on matchday one.
Italy threatened barely seconds into the second half but Nigeria’s defence cleared the ball off the line as it looked to trickle in after a sweet interplay.
A back and forth ensued between the two teams before Nigeria broke the deadlock on the hour mark.
A cross comes to Samson Lawal in the box and after riding a challenge, he showed good quality to pick out Fago unmarked who then headed into the net for the opening goal.
Nigeria looked to saw out their advantage until the closing stages before delivering the knockout punch for the second goal.
Italy pushed forward in search of the equaliser but their attack broke down allowing goalkeeper Aniagboso to send a long ball forward for Jude Sunday.
The young attacker raced forward, steadied himself before breaking millions of Italian hearts with the second goal deep into stoppage time.
Brazil whitewash Dominican Republic 6-0
Meanwhile, Brazil trounced Dominican Republic 6-0 on Wednesday to keep alive its chances of advancing to the knockout stage of the Under-20 World Cup.
The Brazilians are 1-1 and three points behind unbeaten Group D leader Nigeria.
Nigeria will next face Brazil on Saturday and Italy will take on the Dominicans, setting up the prospect of goal difference being a decisive factor for qualification.
The top two teams in each group plus the four best third-placed teams will progress to the Round of 16.
The Brazilian team, which lost 3-2 to Italy in its first group match, did not face any resistance from Dominican Republic throughout the match in Mendoza, with goals coming from Sávio (37th minute), Marcos Leonardo (38), Jean (57), Giovane (82) and in stoppage time from Marlon Gomes and Matheus Martins.
Senegal drew 1-1 with Israel and will need to beat Colombia on Saturday to have a chance of advancing. The Israelis opened the scoring in La Plata in the 58th with an own goal by Babacar Ndiaye. Pape Demba Diop equalized in the 80th.
Colombia leads Group C after a 2-1 win against Japan. Riku Yamane opened the scoring for Japan on the half-hour, but Yaser Asprilla and Tomás Ángel led the Colombians to their second victory with goals in the 53rd and 59th.
Colombia has six points after two rounds, three clear of Japan and five ahead of Senegal and Israel.
