Nigeria 2-0 Hungary: Taiwo Awoniyi brace gun down brave Hungary

Taiwo Awoniyi scored two beautiful goals as the Flying Eagles defeated Hungary by two unreplied goals to book their place in the knockout round of the ongoing FIFA U20 World Cup. 

A goal in each half for man-of-the-match Taiwo Awoniyi helped Nigeria finally banish the memory of their 2-4 defeat to Brazil and set up a mouth-watering encounter with European champions Germany.

Match Build Up

Knowing that only a win would be enough to confirm their place in the round of 16, Coach Manu Garba opted to name the same line-up that beat Korea DPR in their second game.

Isaac Success and Kelechi Iheanacho could only wait their chances from the bench as Taiwo Awoniyi continued to partner two-goal hero Saviour Godwin up-front.

Workaholic Akinjide Idowu kept his place in midfield and Kingsley Sokari, on the back of his super outing against Korea DPR, retained his spot on the right-wing. The flying Eagles were once again led out by captain Musa Muhammed.

First Half

The Europeans started on the front foot causing Nigeria a few problems from set-pieces, which the defenders managed to deal with.

The tide of the game soon swung to the Africans as, first Kingsley Sokari and later Taiwo Awoniyi produced fine saves from Hungary goalkeeper Szekely in quick succession.

Shortly past the half-hour mark, the Flying Eagles got the opener that their fine display deserved. And it was that man, Taiwo Awoniyi.

All credit however to Godwin Saviour who made a fantastic run from the right wing before squaring for strike partner Awoniyi to place a firm finish past Szekely in goal to open his account at the ongoing Fifa U20 World Cup in New Zealand.

The Hungarians tried to muster a quick comeback but the Flying Eagles stayed strong to close the half in front.

Second Half 


Surprisingly on resumption of play, Hungary replaced injured star player and four-goals-in-two-games king Bence Mervó with Zsolt Kalmar.

It didn’t seem to weaken the Europeans attack though as forward Nemeth’s powerful strike from more than 15 yards out beat Enaholo but came off the woodwork, five minutes after restart.

On 54 minutes, the Flying Eagles got their second goal. A truly beautiful goal.

Taiwo Awoniyi expertly collected a long assist from goalkeeper Enaholo, jinked his way past the defender and rounded Hungary’s goalkeeper for the coolest finish ever.

Five minutes later, Awoniyi missed the chance to earn his hat trick after rounding the keeper once again but his balance just failed him as he sent the ball wide from a tight angle.

Coach Manu Garba threw Success Isaac into the fray for Saviour Godwin as he chased more goals against the Hungarians. Man of the Match Awoniyi was also denied a chance to earn his hat-trick as he was withdrawn for debutant Moses Simon.

There was still time for Kelechi Iheanacho to make his second appearance in the tournament as he came on in place of injured Kingsley Sokari with ten minutes left to play.

But the Nigerians had done enough to record a comfortable two nil win over Hungary to book their place in the Round of 16 and a top class fixture against high-flying European champions Germany who whipped Honduras 5-1 in their last group game.