The Nigerian women's under-17 football team, the Flamingos, has reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
This was after a humiliating 4-0 victory over Ecuador at the Cibao Stadium in the Dominican Republic.
For the second game in a row, Nigeria scored four goals in the Women's World Cup and qualified for the round of 16 with one game remaining next Wednesday.
Nigeria broke the deadlock early with a penalty from Shakira Moshood in the 28th minute after captain Taiwo Afolabi was fouled in the opponent's box.
The advantage extended into the second half for the Nigerian team, which doubled the goal in the 54th minute with a solo shot by Harmony Chidi that went to the bottom right corner. It was that of Chidi, the top scorer in the first goal of the qualifying phase in the tournament after the VAR scored her goal five minutes earlier.
Nigeria then got the third goal in the 66th minute after a pass from Ecuadorian defender María Zambrano to goalkeeper Melany Pozo was wrongly cleared to give Peace Effiong the chance to slot the ball into the empty net.
Moshood then scored a brace in the 96th minute off an assist from Chidi Harmony to put Nigeria in first position with six points.
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Coach Bankole Olowokere, speaking after the match, thanked the Nigerians and his girls for their support in keeping up the fight.
“All thanks to my players for approaching the game tactically. They are children. There are reasons for them to calm down from anxiety. I told them to follow the game plan and they relented. They listened and the goals barely arrived.
Thanking the Nigerians who stayed up late to care for the girls, he said: “We want to thank you for the vigil; It is the promise we made to them and we are fulfilling it.”
Meanwhile, forward Chidi Harmony, who was named player of the match after scoring her first goal in the competition and creating an assist for Moshood's double, said encouragement from her teammates and coaches helped her ignore the poor performance in his first game. .
“It is not in my power to do it well; If it weren't for my teammates, the coach and God, I wouldn't have been named best player of the match. “I don’t think I will be man of the match.”
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“I don't know how to express it. There is joy throughout my body. Even when it didn't seem like it was working, you see my coach and my teammates encouraging me to do well. “We will make this worth it for you,” he promised.
Nigeria will play their final group stage match against the hosts Dominican Republic on Wednesday, November 23.