Croatia came from behind to
defeat Group A winners Nigeria 2-1 and advance to the knockout stages of the FIFA
U-17 World Cup Chile 2015.
Croatia, knowing a win would
be enough for them to advance to the knockout stages, started the match in Coquimbo
with great determination and created a number of chances early in the match.
Croatia captain Nikola Moro had a shot from around the penalty area deflect
strongly off Nigeria's brave defenders.
Four minutes later, Nigeria
had their first significant chance of the match when Victor Osimhen, after an impressive
counter attack, slotted a shot past Croatia goalkeeper Adrian Semper only for
it to hit the base of the goal post.
Osimhen would not have to
wait long to see his fortunes change when, after another swift counter attack,
he calmly danced around Semper to score and become the tournament's outright
top scorer, tallying his fourth goal at Chile 2015 so far.
Croatia continued to have the
majority of possession for the remainder of the half. In the 39th minute, Moro had
a strong free-kick saved superbly by Nigeria keeper Akpan Udoh. Croatia would
have one more significant chance before the interval but Borna Sosa's shot was
deflected
for a corner after Ejike
Ikwu's intervention. When the referee blew the whistle for half-time, Croatia
had 18 attempts to Nigeria three, but it was the Africans who held the
important advantage.
Croatia returned from the
break anxious to finally convert a chance and they did so just five minutes
into the second half. Josip Brekalo scored the equaliser after Moro wriggled
his way along the Nigerian defense's goal-line and found his team-mate on the
back post.
Dario Basic's Croatia then
used their momentum to take the lead four minutes later when they capitalised
on an error from Nigeria's backline. Karlo Majic cooly curled in a right-footed
shot to score his second of the tournament and, more importantly, give his team
the lead.
There were chances for both
sides towards the end and Nigeria threatened to score an equaliser in the final
minutes. The stand-out moment was Croatia defender Branimir Kalaica's
last-ditch block on Samuel Chukwueze to keep his side 2-1 ahead.
Croatia held on to their lead
in the end to become the first Croatian team ever to reach the Round of 16 in
the tournament and will now face the runners-up in Group C on Thursday 29
October, while Group A winners Nigeria will wait to see which third-placed team
from Groups C, D or E they will come up against in the Round of 16 on Wednesday
28 October.
Source: www.Fifa.com
Complied by Adekunle Adewale
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