Spain U-17 1-3 Nigeria U-17: Eaglets Try For Fourth FIFA U-17 WC Title

Nigeria defeated Spain 3-1 before a sell-out crowd at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos on Thursday night to qualify for the final of this year's FIFA Under-17 World Cup.

The Golden Eaglets will on Sunday face debutants Switzerland, who trounced Colombia in the earlier semi-final.

Spain were aiming to avenge their championship loss to the Africans two years ago in Seoul, but came up short, and will now have to settle for a third-placed match with Colombia on Sunday.

Stanley Okoro opened scoring in the 30th minute when the lively Heartland forward darted through the Spanish defence before stroking home from seven yards.

Striker Sani Emmanuel came off the bench in the second half to wrap up a final ticket with two well-taken goals.

Borja pulled a goal back for Spain seven minutes from time to make the scoreline respectable.

The first real attack of this second semi-final saw Okoro, after a good combination play with Egbedi, test Edgar with a shot from inside the box after 15 minutes, which the Spain goalkeeper saved comfortably.

Moments later, Mohammed Aliyu's audacious long range chip almost caught out Edgar before it narrowly missed target.

In the 25th minute, Okoro, nicknamed 'Little Messi', broke free from the right but his final effort from inside the box flew wide of the mark.

Two minutes later, action swung to the other end of the pitch as Isco found his way into the Nigerian area but goalkeeper Dami Paul did well to make a double save.

After Okoro's goal on the half hour mark, the Golden Eaglets continued to dictate the pace of the game. Spain tried to fend off the Nigerian attack by employing the offside trap, which caught the hosts on a couple of occasions.

Right after the break, a shot in the 47th minute by Jordi Amat was palmed for a corner by goalkeeper Paul as Spain continued to fight for an equaliser.

In the 59th minute, the Nigeria goalkeeper pulled off a great save when Isco's free kick was helped on by a Spanish head and was heading into the far corner of the net before Paul tipped the ball away for a corner.

But just when it seemed Spain had played their way back into the picture, the Eaglets doubled their lead in the 61st minute when the Spanish defence failed to properly deal with a long throw by Oliha and super sub Sani Emmanuel blasted in his fourth goal of the tournament.

Emmanuel netted his fifth goal in the 71st minute when he beautifully controlled a long thrust from the centre circle before coolly hitting target.

Borja's goal in the 83rd minute was therefore too little, too late for Spain.

Samm Audu, Goal.com

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