Nigeria handed the Young Ferns a 4-1 thumping in their opening match of the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Finals in the Dominican Republic on October 16, the scoreline flattering Alana Gunn's side in a match played at the Cibao FC Stadium in Santiago de Los Caballeros. "The Flamingoes" got off to the perfect start, opening the scoring just 82 seconds into the contest. New Zealand had barely touched the ball when Onyedikachi Ekezie sent Aishat Animashaun scampering down the left, from where she picked out Peace Effiong. She laid the ball off to fellow fourteen-year-old Harmony Chidi, whose unselfish pass invited Shakiral Moshood to open the scoring, a feat she accomplished from fifteen yards after side-stepping a challenge. As starts at a World Cup Finals go, things couldn't possibly been any worse for the Young Ferns, and they didn't get a great deal better. Indeed, they largely fed off scraps in the first forty minutes of the contest, and there were precious few of those as the Nigerians bossed possession and adopted a shoot-on-sight approach which pinned New Zealand inside their own half. Long-range efforts from Faridat Abdulwahab and Ekezie gave Brooke Neary cause for concern in the seventh and eighth minutes respectively, before Abdulwahab hit the post with a thirty-five yard screamer in the ninth minute. Four minutes later, another long-range effort saw Nigeria double their advantage, but Neary will have nightmares about this goal for quite some time, one fancies. Khadijat Adegoke's twenty-five yarder appeared routine in nature, but the Young Ferns custodian somehow let it slip through her hands and over the line behind her before she could scoop the ball back into play - an absolute howler which left Neary looking for the nearest wormhole to crawl into. It could very easily have been 3-0 in the seventeenth minute. Ekezie, Animashaun and Abdulwahab teamed up to present Moshood with another chance, one which took a wicked deflection off Mikaela Bangalan. The ball dipped and swerved and did all sorts of naughty things from a goalkeeper's perspective, but the back-pedalling figure of Neary did extremely well to divert the sphere over the bar. Another Abdulwahab effort from distance followed soon after, this one swerving narrowly past the upright late in the piece. After a brief respite while a drinks break was enjoyed - the heat and humidity also did the battling Kiwi players no favours - "Operation Shoot On Sight" resumed, with Nigeria continuing to pepper their opponents' goal from all parts of the pitch. In the 26th minute, Effiong led a right-wing raid before bringing Chidi into the mix. She rounded the approaching figure of Neary but was forced to the by-line by the covering figure of Charli Dunn, who did a good job containing her young opponent in this match. Chidi still managed to create space from which to shoot, however, but Neary had recovered her position and produced a save. This presented Moshood with the chance to create mayhem with one of her corners, and she delivered a beauty on this occasion, forcing Neary to tip the ball against the crossbar. The ball was cleared back to Moshood, who invited Taiwo Afolabi to let rip from twenty yards, a shot which Neary tipped round the post. That 28th minute effort was swiftly followed by another Moshood corner, but her anticipated delivery didn't materialise. Instead, she employed a change of tactics, picking out Abdulwahab some twenty-five yards out from goal. Without breaking stride, she picked out the far corner of the net, the ball arcing over the diving figure of Neary - 3-0, and the thirty minute mark had not yet been reached. This was shaping up to be New Zealand's worst nightmare, and there were no signs of Nigeria relenting anytime soon. Effiong dragged a shot narrowly past the post before Neary was forced to paw another tantalising Moshood corner to safety. Cue a vital block by Young Ferns captain Alyssha Eglinton to deny Chidi in the act of shooting, after she had been played in by Afolabi, who produced further good work in the 41st minute to engineer an opening for Adegoke, whose twenty-five chipped effort drifted narrowly past the post.

Ela Jerez had been the lone player offering anything from an attacking perspective for the Young Ferns during the half, and when a rare incursion into Nigerian territory earned the Kiwis a free-kick, she was the one tasked with pulling the trigger, a long-range effort which was saved by Christiana Uzoma in the 42nd minute, the 'keeper's first notable involvement in the match. Buoyed by this, the Young Ferns went closer still before half-time. Jerez weaved her way into the penalty area, taking on and beating two opponents before looking to pick out Katie Pugh with a cross when, in truth, she could have gone for goal herself. She immediately wished she had done, because the retreating figure of Moshood snuffed out the last opportunity of the half. In between these efforts, Nigeria twice went close, Afolabi rattling an upright before Effiong slammed a shot into the side-netting after cleverly turning Hannah Saxon, one of the few occasions in the match when she was bettered by an opponent. Hers was an eye-catching display, laden with tackles and interceptions aplenty. Yes, she made errors - there wasn't a player in black who didn't! But in Saxon's case, she more than made up for them with her determined defending, and a moment of magic in the second half of which any striker would have been proud, about which, more shortly. For Nigeria were quickly into their stride in the second spell, Animashaun beating two before shooting tamely at Neary three minutes after the resumption of play. Six minutes later, Afolabi, Hannah Ibrahim, Abdulwahab and Moshood combined in a super move which sent Effiong surging through on goal, Edginton in her wake. With just Neary to beat, however, she sliced her shot wildly wide - a goal was the minimum expectation in the situation she found herself. A glorious chance spurned. "The Flamingoes" had but seconds to wait to make amends, however. Dunn gave the ball away, and Effiong got the better of Saxon as she tried to retrieve the situation. The ball broke for Adegoke, whose cross picked out Afolabi, whose well-timed leap saw her fifteen-yard header arc over Neary and into the net by the far post - 4-0. The Young Ferns responded by making a couple of changes, and the introduction of Mary Brown and Grace Bartlett had a near-instant impact, with a Jerez corner being tipped over her crossbar by Uzoma. Cue another Jerez corner, this one on the hour picking out Saxon at the near post, where she controlled the ball, then swivelled and slammed home a shot on the turn from seven yards - a terrific finish which any striker would have been proud of, and certainly not what you'd expect from a defender playing in her first World Cup Finals fixture. That made the score 4-1 to Nigeria, who went close to restoring their four-goal advantage two minutes later, Neary saving at the feet of Chidi, making amends for her misjudgement of Moshood's shot seconds prior. After this, the Nigerians eased off the throttle somewhat, while still keeping the Young Ferns at arm's length. Neary was called upon again fifteen minutes from time, tipping a twenty-yarder from Chidi over  the bar after Dunn had blocked the youngster's initial attempt. Then with four minutes remaining, substitute Ramotalahi Kareem was all over Eglinton like a rash, and shoved the defender over in order to fire a shot at goal. Neary blocked the attempt, but Kareem was onto the rebound and whipped in a cross which was headed against the post from point-blank range by fellow substitute Blessing Ifitezue, albeit from an offside position. Brown, too, was offside when she drew the last save of the contest from Uzoma in stoppage time, but Nigeria had won this contest long before the final whistle was blown, their long-range shooting earning the chocolates on this occasion. Nigeria:     Uzoma; Adegoke, Ibrahim, Adebayo, Ezekie; Moshood, Abdulwahab (Rotimi, 84), Afolabi; Effiong, Chidi (Kareem, 84), Animashaun (Ifitezue, 78) Young Ferns:     Neary; Humphrey, Dunn, Eglinton, Saxon (March, 66); Bangalan, Loxton, (Young, 46), De Wit (Morgan, 78); Jerez, Pugh (Bartlett, 57), Chellenbron (Brown, 57) Referee:     Olazt Rivera Olmeda (Spain)