By Amaechi Agbo

Nigeria’s U-17 women’s team, the Flamingos reached the quarter finals of the ongoing FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India after the scooped all three points from Chile in a 2-1 win in Bhubaneswar.

Blessing Emmanuel’s goal in the 4th minute of the game and Bisola Mosaku’s strike off a free-kick by dead-ball artist Miracle Usani with eight minutes left was enough to see Nigeria through at the Kalinga Stadium, despite a late penalty converted by Roverner Tali.

The win earned the Flamingoes a place in the quarter finals on Friday, with either USA or Brazil as opponents.

As was the case against New Zealand on Friday, the Flamingos created a slew of opportunities that were not converted, but Head Coach Bankole Olowookere assured the team will get even better as the tournament progresses.

“We missed a number of chances again, but I like the spirit of the team and we will get better as we go on in the competition. I am happy we made it into the last eight, and that we sustained our winning mentality despite the fact that we only needed a draw to sail through.”

Germany’s 3-1 win over New Zealand in the other match of Group B meant the Germans finished with the maximum nine points in the group phase, having scored a total of 11 goals conceding only two.

Nigeria finished with six points, and a plus six goals advantage after scoring seven goals and conceding only two.

The West Africans will now take on United States of America girls in the last 8 on Friday by 12noon.