Nigeria beat the United States 4-3 on penalties to reach the semifinals of the Under-17 Women’s World Cup for the first time following a 1-1 draw.
Omamuzo Edafe scored the deciding spot kick to end a tense shoot-out at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
Kick-off was delayed for almost two hours because of a thunderstorm, and Edafe gave the West Africans the lead from the spot in the 26th minute after Ella Emri committed a foul in the box.
Amalia Villarreal levelled for the Americans with a deflected shot shortly before the break.
USA, who finished runners-up at the maiden tournament in 2008, and Nigeria both failed to find a winner in the second half which took the game to penalties.
A dramatic shoot-out saw Emri shoot wide in the second round of penalties to hand Nigeria an early advantage.
Miracle Usani saw her effort saved in the following round, but was allowed a retake because USA keeper Valentina Amaral had strayed off her line and was able to net at the second attempt.
Comfort Folorunsho sent her effort over the bar in the fourth round of penalties to give the USA hope but Nigeria keeper Linda Jiwuaku, who had come on as an injury-time substitute, then saved from Riley Jackson.
That allowed Edafe to calmly slot home to send the Flamingos into their maiden semi-final.
Nigeria, who have taken part in all but the 2018 edition of the U17 World Cup finals, will face the winner of Saturday’s game between Colombia and African other representative Tanzania in the semi-finals on 26 October.
©BBC
