In what turned out to be a soul satisfying outcome, the ferocious Flamingos of Nigeria mummified their Egyptian visitors today with 4 unrequited goals in Abuja to climb higher in the pyramid of cadet women's world cup qualification.
First half goals from Opeyemi Ajakaiye and Omowunmi Bello left the Egyptians wrapped in a tomb of despair before the break. By the time Bello and then Miracle Usani added two more goals for the rampant Flamingos in the second half, Nigeria's superiority and the outcome of the duel was not in 'de-nile', 4:0 to Nigeria.
Coach Bankole had said before the encounter that his girls were in the mood to approach this match with the same pitiless savagery that saw them obliterate Congo 5:0 in their last match. And indeed, it took just 3 minutes for deadly Ajakaiye to draw a foul just outside Egypt's 18 yard box but the resultant freekick was wasted.
Just 10 minutes later, the Egyptian defence was still living dangerously as Comfort Folorunsho's ferocious drive went agonisingly wide.
The Egyptian defence continued to live on a knifes edge in 17 minutes after Ajakaiye's eloquent ball control and pristine swivel saw her through on goal before launching her effort painfully over the bar.
Attacking wise, it was one way traffic at this point as our fabulous female teenagers were the ones looking most menacing.
So, it came as no surprise as Ajakaiye's neatly taken effort made 1:0 for Nigeria in just 28 minutes. With that sort of sweet and sumptuous strike, little wonder she can expect a box of 'Pharaoh-Rocher' Chocolates from her coach afterwards.
By this point the Flamingos were dictating play and stamping their authority right across the pitch. Even goalkeeper Faith Omilana had to be alert to pull off a smart save from Nadia's well taken belter in 30 minutes.
Just when the Egyptians thought they were gaining a foothold in the match, Omowunmi Bello pulled the rug from right under their feet in the most cruelest fashion with a ghoulish header off a corner kick routine in 38 minutes to make it 2 goals to nil.
You have to forget the legend of Anubis, these Nigerian Flamingos are legends in the making.
Captain Dah Zossu Alvine had admonished fans to expect beautiful football in this encounter and the team was delivering in style in the searing Abuja sun.
Despite Ajakaiye inexplicably missing an absolute sitter early in the second half, you don't need to understand Egyptian hieroglyphs to see the writing on the wall: this game had more Nigerian goals in the tomb to be unwrapped and resurrected.
But, give credit to the Egyptians, they still had a sphinx of struggle in them as their attacking efforts gave rise to a succession of corner kicks which our girls competently brushed aside.
But Egyptian efforts came to nought as it was Miracle Usani who pulled Nigeria further ahead in 54 minutes with a swish and swanky low drive that proves she already has a 'Foot-in-Common' with some of the legendary female sharpshooters of the game. 3:0 at that point.
The Egyptians were shell shocked, and their coaching crew no less so for their inability to stem the rampaging tide of the Flamingos was going to cost them more than a visit to the 'cairo-practor'.
The final nail to the Egyptian coffin would come in the way of Omowunmi Bello's brace in 62 minutes as she was prescient enough to blast past the on rushing goalkeeper for Nigeria's fourth and final goal of the game.
The Egyptians, to their credit, never stopped hurstling. They had a freekick in 68 minutes which had to be addressed and even into the 75th minutes they were charging forward in search of the treasured away goal, which eluded them due to disciplined and resolute display from Bankole’s damsels.
Although Bello and Ajakaiye came close to adding further gloss to the scoreline in the dying minutes with Ajakaiye even having beautiful goal ruled marginally offside, the scoreline stayed 4:0.
The Flamingos team captain did say that they had learnt a lot of great and exciting stuff ahead of this game, the way they scored all four goals bore witness to this. We saw the variety of a header, a low drive, displacing the goalkeeper and decimating Egyptian defence with balls flying in from left, right and centre.
It was a treasure-trove of ancient football artistry retrofitted into an ultra modern tactics which produced masterclas soccer from our sub-saharan classy young ladies.
This was indeed a sumptuous spectacle in which the Flamingos thoroughly entertained and impressed in equal measure with the ruthless efficiency in which they went about their business.
It was a delightful display and a vigorous victory that will continue to make their peers across the continent to sit up and take notice.
With a 4 goals deficit, the chances of Egypt overturning the outcome in the second leg is effectively buried deep in the Dead Sea.
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