Nigerians hail penalty queen Esther Onyenezide as Falconets come back to beat Canada

Nigeria's women under 20 team known as the Falconets defeated Canada 3-1 in a group C fixture played in the early hours of Thursday, August 18, 2022.

The Falconets came into the fixture against Canada with two victories to start their campaign at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Costa Rica.

It was the third game for the Falconets at the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Alajuela.

The Falconets final group game was going on simultaneously with the other fixture involving France and South Korea.

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While the Falconets were victorious against France and then South Korea, Canada lost both games to the other group rivals.

They did however start well against Nigeria to take the lead in the Kaila Novak as early as the 2nd minute.

The Falconets would get the equalizer when Esther Onyenezide converted a penalty after a handball by Canada.

Onyenezide also scored the second for the Falconets from the penalty spot after a dangerous tackle by Canada.

The Falconets went to the halftime break with the lead despite falling behind early.

In the second half, the Falconets were able to contain their opponents and were rewarded with a late third goal scored by Chioma Olise.

Esther Onyenezide scored the only goal as the Falconets defeated South Korea in their previous game.

Against Canada, Onyenezide scored both penalties as the Falconets came back to take the lead.

Nigerians compared her to Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo for scoring the penalties.

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