Switzerland defied the 60,000-plus Nigerians fans and the 11 Nigerian players to effect a 1-0 win over the reigning champions and lifted their first ever U-17 World Cup.
The hosts piled pressure on the Swiss from the word go and created a handful of scoring chances inside the opening five minutes. The chances kept coming but the eaglets couldn’t score, hitting the bar or the ball sailing over. Nigeria had an excellent chance through Emmanuel in the dying moments of the first half, but didn’t manage to convert. The Swiss were happy for the score to be all-square in the first 45.
The Swiss came out of their defensive shell at the start of the second half. Haris Seferovic had a golden chance to put the Europeans into the lead in the 57th minute. Turning well at the edge of the area but somehow managed to hit his left-footed drive wide with the whole goal to shoot at. He however made amends six minutes later, leaping highest in the Nigerian penalty area to head a corner-kick over Paul and into the far corner for his fifth goal of the tournament.
The eaglets were stunned into response and pushed forward in frenzied attacks, but failed to make a headway through the Swiss defense.
Switzerland can also take pride in being the first team to keep the free-flowing hosts off the scoreboard, in this tournament.
Watch the goal highlights here.
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