By Amaechi Agbo
Barcelona striker, Asisat Oshoala scored a 75th minute goal as Super Falcons bounced back from their Group A opening defeat in the ongoing FIFA Women’s World Cup in France to defeat South Korea 2-0 on Wednesday in second match of the group
Oshoala, with Wednesday’s goal, became the second Nigerian woman to score at two different World Cup editions, following in the footsteps of Rita Nwadike who scored in 1995 and 1999.
The Super Falcons were mauled 3-0 in their opening game at the World Cup against Norway and they were aware that nothing short of victory in Wednesday’s game would help their chances of still staying on at the World Cup in France. The win puts Nigeria towards qualifying for the knockout stages of the Women’s World Cup for the first time in 20 years.
A dreadful 29th-minute own goal from Kim Do-yeon, who somehow hooked a long ball back past onrushing goalkeeper Kim Min-jung, and Oshoala’s neat finish 30 minutes from the end left the South Koreans pointless after their first two games in Group A and put Nigeria level on three with France and Norway ahead of their crunch clash in Nice later on Wednesday.
Thomas Dennerby’s Nigeria can now legitimately hope for a place in the last 16 regardless of what happens in their last group match against the tournament-hosting French.
Four third place finishers from the six groups will qualify, meaning three points could well be enough to see the Super Falcons through to the knockout rounds for the first time since 1999, when they reached the quarter-finals in the US.
South Korea meanwhile face an uphill task to go through now as they face a strong Norway side in their final match, after watching Lee Geum-min’s strike ruled out for a very tight offside just before the hour mark.
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