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Tag: Costa Rica

  • FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup: Falconets defeat South Korea 1-0

    FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup: Falconets defeat South Korea 1-0

    Nigeria’s Under-20 National Women’s Football Team (Falconets) defeated  South Korea 1-0 on Sunday in their Group C Match Day Two of the ongoing FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica.

    The Falconets got a vital boost at the Estadio Alajuela Morera Soto Stadium with the defeat of the South Koreans to reach the knock-out round.

    The Falconets also got off to a winning start on Thursday with a 1-0 win over highly-rated France. However,  the South Koreans shot to the top of the group when they beat Canada 2-0.

    Falconets got on a sound footing with excellent passes to the admiration of few spectators but no goal to show for their display in the first half of the match.

    They started very well, but their Korean opponents grew into the game, and even hit the post from a free kick but the Nigerian girls held on.

    Both teams played almost all their tactics and skills all to no avail in the pursuit of a goal that never came. The Falconets dominated possession with 64 per cent as against the South Koreans’ 36 per cent.

    Both teams continued from where they stopped with the Falconets dominating  in the second half of the game.

    Esther Onyenezide finally scored for the Falconets in the 83rd minute  of the game for the winning goal.

    Nigeria will be up agsinst Canada on Aug.19 in their next match. The victory lifted Falconets to the knockout rounds of the World Cup even before a final group game against Canada.

    The Falconets were paired in Group C along with France, South Korea and Canada.

    Meanwhile, in another match played earlier in Group D, Japan defeated Ghana 2-0.

    The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, which started  on Aug. 10, is expected to end on 28 in Costa Rica.

  • Costa Rica edge out New Zealand, grab Worldcup last slot

    Central  American side  Costa Rica became the 32nd country to qualify for the  Qatar 2022 World Cup.

    Joel Campbell’s early goal was enough for his country to reach a third successive tournament as they defeated 10-man New Zealand 1-0 in their intercontinental playoff on Tuesday.

    The former Arsenal striker scored in the 3rd minute to slot in a cross from Jewison Bennette.

    New Zealand had an equaliser ruled out by VAR for a foul in the build-up to Chris Wood putting the ball in the back of the net in the 39th minute.

    New Zealand ended the match with 10 men as substitute Kosta Barbarouses was sent off for fouling Francisco Calvo.

    Costa Rica have now qualified for the World Cup six times and this will be their third successive appearance.

    Their best performance came in 2014 when they reached the quarter-finals, finishing top of a group that included Uruguay, Italy and England, before beating Greece on penalties in the last 16 and losing in a shootout to the Netherlands.

    The World Cup begins on 21 November with Costa Rica playing 2010 champions Spain in their opener on 23 November.

    It’s the first time the worldcup will be played in the winter due to the difference in weather condition of the the host country Qatar.

  • 27 players arrive Falconets’ camp ahead of qualifiers for Costa Rica 2022

    27 players arrive Falconets’ camp ahead of qualifiers for Costa Rica 2022

    The Falconets’ Head Coach, Christopher Danjuma, on Tuesday said 27 of the invited 35 players have arrived at the national under-20 women’s football team camp in Abuja.

    Danjuma told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that two foreign-based players —- one from Denmark and the other from England —- were also expected to join the camp shortly.

    NAN reports that the camp was open ahead of the upcoming African Qualifiers for the 10th FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica from Aug. 10 to Aug. 28, 2022.

    The coach explained that the invited players were mostly coming from clubs in the country’s leagues, with several coming from the under-17 cadre.

    “Most of the players were taken from clubs which played in the NWFL Super Six and Aiteo Cup finals, and I think we are still picking the best of the best according to our ability,” he said.

    Danjuma however noted that the players’ performance have been good. “We have a very young team, and our girls have been doing very well in their various leagues.

    “These players are ready to work hard with determination and a display of talents that will make them reach the top of their career.”

    He stated that his team was at the moment not facing any challenge. “The Federation is basically doing well. The accommodation is conducive, and so far there is no complaints yet from any of the players. They are well relaxed to bring out the best in them.

    “Also, with the way we are going with the set of players called to camp, these are the set of players that we will develop as the competition keeps growing on, and they are the group of players that will be a revolution in Nigerian football,’’ Danjuma said.

    He pointed out that the technical crew has like four weeks to train and camp the players and he and his colleagues would strive to achieve their aim.

    “Our players are good. So, we will do our best to play to our strength. We will not underrate any country. But Nigeria has what it takes to come out victorious against other teams.

    ‘“We will start playing friendly matches as from Saturday.

    “We are still deciding, to know which teams we are going to play against, but we are going to start intensifying efforts to play against the teams around the FCT,’’ the coach said.

    NAN reports that the Falconets have drawn bye into the second round where they will face Central African Republic (CAR).

    Nigeria have qualified for the World Cup nine times and have finished as runners-up on two occasions (2010 and 2014), and the quarter-finals four times (2004, 2006, 2008 and 2018).

    They also finished fourth in 2012 and did not go past the group stage in 2002 and 2016.

  • Family vacation: The Kardashians jet out to Costa Rica

    American reality television family, the Kardashians are on their way to Costa Rica for their annual vacation.

    Kris Jenner and her boyfriend Corey Gamble, Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and Kylie, the little kids: Mason, Penelope, North, Reign and Saint, including Tyga and his son, King Cairo are all pictured in the airport as they boarded a private jet to the rain forested Central American country with coastlines on the Caribbean and Pacific.

    See more photos below…