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 Osemhen, after an impressive counter attack,
slotted a shot past Croatia goalkeeper Adrian Semper only for it to hit the
base of the goal post.
Osemhen 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's 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.
Quotes
"I am very proud of my players who played a great
match. We approached this game as a final, telling us it was absolutely necessary
to win or go home. I believed in my team. It has shown that it can compete with
the best teams in the world," Dario Basic, Croatia coach.
"My players wanted to win, but we were not the best tonight. The Croats
have asked us many problems. They prevented us from playing our game and
deserved to win. My players are very talented, but still have room for
improvement collectively," Emmanuel Amuneke, Nigeria coach.
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