Nigerians inch closer to Costa Rica 2022 qualification

Thanks to three goals from striker Flourish Sabastine this Saturday in the first leg of the last qualifying round for the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup played at the Lat Dior stadium, the Nigerian team took a huge step closer to qualification at the expense of Senegal who reduced the tally after a penalty of the last moments of the game by Adji Ndiaye in the 89th minute.

The biggest threat for Senegal was Sabastine as she was a permanent poison for the Senegalese side by becoming the standout for her team, deeming the hosts' hopes and opening the scoring at the first chance of the game in the eighth minute.

Upon receiving a through pass poorly negotiated by the Senegalese defense, she slipped the ball into the net for the first goal of the match for the visitors.

Despite gaining an early lead, the Nigerians refused to loosen the noose by being the first on the ball and preventing the home side from advancing with the ball in the attack.

In midfield, they reigned with the numbers Deborah Abiodun and Esther Onyenezine and in defense, Oluwatosin Demehin in addition to halting the rare Senegalese attempts masterminded by their attackers.

The first clear chance came in the 27th minute for the Senegalese but the attempt was taken in two stages for the Nigerian goalkeeper Monle Omini Oyono.

If the Senegalese were emboldened after this first chance, they were stopped by Nigerians or they hesitate when going forward.

In the second period, Nigeria continued to put their foot forward and on a cross in the 56th minute, striker Sabastine scored her second goal of the game off Mercy Idoko's cross.

It was her again, who was at her best to hit her hattrick in the 62nd minute on a penalty after a Nigerian was brought down by captain Marere Babou in the Senegalese defense.

In the final five minutes, Hadji Ndiaye was brought down by the goalkeeper Oyono, and the former converted from the spot to reduce the deficit in the 88th minute for Senegal.

With a huge first-leg lead in Thies, the Falconets will return home to welcome the Senegalese for the decisive second leg at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City on March 26.

What they said

**
Aicha Henriette Ndiaye, U20 women's coach of Senegal:**
“Nothing is impossible, we will continue to believe in ourselves despite this defeat (3-1) in the first leg, especially since we can improve on several aspects. At first, we must correct all the mistakes made in the first leg, and also now, we are no longer going into the unknown when we lacked information on this Nigerian team unlike our first three opponents, namely, Mali, Guinea and Morocco. And if we recover the absent players this evening, I say why not go and succeed at their home [in Benin City], which they did here."

Christopher Danjuma, Nigeria U20 women's coach:
'We had a good result here with this 3-1 away win but in football, until the referee blows the whistle for the end of the game, you can't say you're qualified. This means that we are going to prepare for the return leg, forgetting the result obtained this Saturday against a very talented Senegalese team. Moreover, for this first leg, we tried to put the odds on our side by finding as much information as possible on this Senegalese team which nevertheless eliminated Morocco that is doing a good job in women's football. As in the first leg, we have to be mentally ready to stay the course."