Nigeria’s U17 women’s national team, the Flamingos, are set to take on South Africa in the second round of the 2025 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers after Gabon’s disastrous outing in the first leg of their first round clash, Soccernet.ng reports.
The Flamingos, one of the teams to earn a bye in the first round as a result of their qualification for last year’s tournament, awaited the winner of the tie between South Africa and Gabon.
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That contest, however, turned chaotic when Gabon fielded an under-strength team, resulting in the abandonment of the match.
South Africa’s first-leg visit to Gabon was cut short after a series of violations of FIFA regulations.
Gabon started the match with just 10 players due to the ineligibility of eight of their squad members, who were born outside the competition’s required birth window of January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2010.
Things worsened when Gabon’s goalkeeper was injured in the first half, leaving the team with only nine players as South Africa cruised to a 12-1 lead by halftime.
Khwezi Khoza scored four goals, Katlego Malebane and Nomfundo Nzuza netted hat-tricks, and Akhona Simamane bagged a brace.
Further injuries reduced Gabon’s team to just six players before the second half, forcing Match Commissioner Elise Delly Mankou Nee to call off the game.
According to FIFA’s Laws of the Game, a match cannot continue if either team has fewer than seven players.
South Africa’s head coach, Ntombifuthi Khumalo, expressed disappointment over the turn of events.
“We came to Gabon and prepared for 90 minutes of play. Although we understand and respect the laws of the game, the decision taken today hinders our plans as a team,” Khumalo told safa.net.
“We have areas that we want to work on and really needed this game as we intend on progressing to the next round of World Cup qualifiers.”
South Africa will host the second leg on January 18, 2025, at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Pretoria, with a commanding advantage. The winner will face Nigeria in the next stage of the qualifiers.
