“We can beat any team” – Falconets heroine talks tough after South Korea triumph

The Nigeria national under-20 team defeated South Korea last on Sunday night to book their place in the knockout stages of the competition

Falconets midfielder Esther Onyenezide is confident that Nigeria can overcome any challenge faced at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women World Cup currently going on in Costa Rica.

The Nigeria U-20 girls have won the two matches played at the tournament so far, beating France on Friday and South Korea on Sunday by identical 1-0 scorelines.

While Flourish Sabastine grabbed the winner against the French, Esther Onyenezide was the match decider against the Koreans.

The Falconets have sealed a quarterfinal ticket, even with the last group match against Canada still to play.

Tougher challenges await in the next phase, with three-time winners Germany and USA, defending champions Japan and European giants Netherlands still in the race.

But Onyenezide, 19, is not perturbed by the bigwigs.

The Falconets’ number eight draws confidence from the team’s remarkable run during qualification. Nigeria did not lose a qualifying match – home or away – winning six of seven played and drawing the other in Cameroon.

Onyenezide insists that the Falconets will not cower before any team in Costa Rica, no matter the pedigree.

“We are a giant in Africa and fear no other team,” Onyenezide said (via BBC)

“We’ve trained an unbelievable amount and if you look back at qualifying, then we’ve every right to be confident out here whenever we play.

“We want to show the world that we’re not just big in African terms but that we can beat any other team.”

The Falconets next face Canada in their last group C match slated for Thursday morning. The Canadians have already been eliminated after consecutive defeats to South Korea and France.

Nigeria have never won the competition but were runners-up on two different occasions.