The Falconets, Nigeria’s under-20 national women’s football team, have defeated France 1-0 in their opening game of the ongoing FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica on Friday at Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San Jose.

The team, playing in group C, began their opening match with their French counterparts but barely 32 minutes of the first half, the match was suspended due to heavy  rainfall.

The referee halted the match to save the teams from the bad weather.

On resumption, the two countries continued from where they stopped with the Falconets showing supremacy in the game. They dictated the pace of the match from the start and had the majority of ball possession of 52 per cent against France’s 48 per cent.

Both teams had the same shots on goal and one yellow card each.

In the second half, both teams struggled for the ball with Mercy Idoko trying to score for Nigeria but the French goalie frustrated her efforts in the 56th minute.

France fought well a few minutes later and netted the ball but was overruled by the referee.

In the 85th minute, Flourish Sabastine broke the deadlock with a Mercy Idoko’s pass which fetched them the late winning goal.

The French girls continued to fight back but were unable to get any goal until the game closed in favour of Nigeria.

Nigeria will face South Korea on Sunday in their next match.

The Falconets are in Group C which includes France, South Korea and Canada.

Meanwhile, in another match played earlier, the U.S. team opened its campaign with an emphatic 3-0 victory against Ghana.

Falconets beat Senegal 4-1 in Benin on March 26 to qualify for the World Cup.

The competition, which started on August 10 will end on August 28 in Costa Rica.

(NAN)