By Amaechi Agbo

Nigeria’s U-20 female national football team, the Falconets on Saturday made statement of intent in their quest to qualify for the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup set to hold in Costa Rica in August as they recorded a 3-1 win against Senegal in the first leg final qualifier, www bestchoicesports.com.ng can report.

Three goals from striker Flourish Sabastine gave the you ladies a huge step closer to qualification at the expense of Senegal who reduced the tally after a penalty of the last moments of the game by Adji Ndiaye in the 89th minute.

The biggest threat for Senegal was Sabastine as she was a permanent poison for the Senegalese side by becoming the standout for her team, deeming the hosts’ hopes and opening the scoring at the first chance of the game in the eighth minute.

Upon receiving a through pass poorly negotiated by the Senegalese defense, she slipped the ball into the net for the first goal of the match for the visitors.

Despite gaining an early lead, the Nigerians refused to loosen the noose by being the first on the ball and preventing the home side from advancing with the ball in the attack.

In midfield, they reigned with the numbers Deborah Abiodun and Esther Onyenezine and in defense, Oluwatosin Demehin in addition to halting the rare Senegalese attempts masterminded by their attackers.

In his post-match reaction, Nigeria coach, Chris Danjuma said the victory was a product of hardwork noting that background information the technical crew had about the Senegalese paved way for the away triumph.

‘We had a good result here with this 3-1 away win but in football, until the referee blows the whistle for the end of the game, you can’t say you’re qualified.

“This means that we are going to prepare for the return leg, forgetting the result obtained this Saturday against a very talented Senegalese team.

“Moreover, for this first leg, we tried to put the odds on our side by finding as much information as possible on this Senegalese team which nevertheless eliminated Morocco that is doing a good job in women’s football. As in the first leg, we have to be mentally ready to stay the course,” he said.

With a huge first-leg lead in Thies, the Falconets will return home to welcome the Senegalese for the decisive second leg at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City on March 26.