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 Osimhen, after an impressive counter attack, slotted a
shot past Croatia goalkeeper Adrian Semper only for it to hit the base
of the goal post.
Osimhen 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.
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