NIGERIA ADVANCE COURSE, AS BRAZIL AND GERMANY JOINS PORTUGAL AND USA IN ROUND OF SIXTEEN

Nigeria’s Flying Eagles made light works of her opponents to set one foot in the round the sixteen. The game which started on a bright note for the Green and White team saw skipper Musa Muhammad’s rocket shot hit the bar as early as the second minute of the encounter. However, the U-17 Champion could not break the defensive resilience of the Asians, who were contented on getting the Flying Eagles on a counter. With the first half ending in a stalemate, the Flying came out smoking after the break as Godwin Savior grabbed a brace in just six minutes after resumption. Kingsley Sokari added to the woes of the Koreans after a wonderful screamer which came off the corner kick sailed through for the third goal. Inspirational substitute, Isaac Success completed the rout just after three minutes of his introduction into the game, he got pass the Korean defenders before slamming a gem of a goal to make it 4-0. The victory however indicates Nigeria will need atleast a draw against Hungary to be sure of a third-place losing slot or a win to get a ticket to the round of sixteen.

In the other group E encounter, Brazil work their mind off to get past Hungary and book a ticket to the round of sixteen. The entertaining game saw Brazil dominate all aspect of the game, though not a finer performance as the one they had against Nigeria, they were quite possessive. The game started a shocker when Hungary shot into the lead as early as the eighth minute through dangerous Mervo that was his fourth goal of the tournament.  However, the celebration was cut short when Tamas, having been booked the second time was given the marching order, this didn’t deter the committed 10-man Hungary team who were bent on making it to the knock-out, the withstood the Brazilian pressure, but unfortunately, hardwork of the Junior Selecao paid off as Danilo grabbed the equalizer at the 50^th minute. The game will however be concluded by a late Brazilian penalty which was coolly slotted by Pereira to secure a second round berth for Brazil in a game that ended 2-1.

Group F was not denied of the moment of magic either as new boys Fiji Island grabbed the headline having defeated Honduras 3-0. The Fijians could not believe their eyes as they watched themselves decimate strong American opponent Honduras. Verevous lightened the encounter in the 14^th minutes, before Waqa made it two through a wonderful flick, Alvarez will later on compile the woes of his Honduras team-mates after scoring an own goal to gift the Fijians a deservedly 3-0 victory. 

 

The score line was exactly in same in the second group F fixture, with Germany defeating Uzbekistan to pick a ticket to the round of sixteen. The game which saw a resilient defensive setup of Uzbekistan  came to life in the 33^rd minute when German Stendera opened scoring, Akpoguma would go on to double the lead for Germany in the 59^th minute, before Stendera cap it up with a brace and Germany’s third of the day late in the 85^th minute. Germany joins Brazil, USA and Portugal in the round of sixteen.

RESULTS

Nigeria 4 DPR Korea 0

Brazil 2 Hungary 1

Honduras 0 Fiji Island 3

Germany 3 Uzbekistan 0

GROUPS

E

Brazil                     6pts                         +3

Hungary                 3pts                        +3

Nigeria                   3pt                           +2

DPR Korea             0pt                           -8

F

Germany                6pts                       +10

Honduras               3pts                          -2

Fiji Island               3pt                            -4

Uzbekistan              0pt                            -4

FIXTURES

Austria v Argentina                        5am Ngr Time

Panama v Ghana                            5am Ngr Time

Myanmar v New Zealand              8am Ngr Time

Ukraine v USA                              8am Ngr Time

 TOP SCORERS

 

Bence Mervo of Hungary          -    4goals

Marc Stendera of Germany       -    3goals

Harry Mukhtar of Germany       -    3goals

Viktor Kovalenko of Ukraine    -    2goals

Ivo of Portugal                            -   2goals  

Andre Silva of Portugal              -   2goals

Saviour Godwin of Nigeria        -   2goals

Success Isaac of Nigeria            -    2goals

Yaw Yeboah of Ghana              -     2goals

Emerson Hyndman of USA       -    2goals

TOP GOALS BY COUNTRIES

Germany          -    11goals

Portugal           -     7 goals

Ukraine            -     6goals

USA                 -     6goals

Hungary           -     6goals

Brazil                -    6goals

Nigeria           -     6goals

Ghana            -     4goals

Argentina       -     4goals

Honduras       -     4goals

USA                 -     6goals

BEST ATTACKING

Honduras    -      46shots    11on target     21off target     13blocked

USA            -      44shots    19on target     150ff target     10blocked

Brazil          -      43shots    19on target      17off target     7blocked

Ghana         -      39shots    16on target       12off target     11blocked

Ukraine       -      37shots    16on target       14off target     7blocked

Portugal      -      36shots     16on target      15off target      5blocked

Argentina     -      36shots    9on target       21off targets      6blocked

Germany      -      35shots    18on target     10off target        7blocked

Austria         -      34shots    11on target     13off target         10blocked

Nigeria         -       30shots    14on target     13off target        3blocked

GOAL SCORED BY GROUPS

Group F          -        21goals

Group E          -        19goals

Group B         -         14goals

Group A        -          13goals

Group C        -           10goals

Group D        -             8goals