By Toby Prince
The Golden Eaglets have begun their title defence on the right foot after taking down USA 2-0 in their opening match of the FIFA U-17 World Cup Chile 2015.
A scoreless opening 45 minutes saw plenty of chances go begging for both sides.
USA’s Haji Wright came the closest to opening the scoring 13 minutes in after getting on the end of Christian Pulisic’s cross but the No7 could not keep his effort from going over the crossbar.
Pulisic in particular tormented the Nigerian backline with his pace and skill attacking down the left, but the Eaglets held on and five minutes after the break took the lead.
The Americans were unable to clear during a scramble in their area and Chukwudi Agor capitalised on the Stars and Stripes’ mistake and smashed the ball into the net, leaving William Pulisic no chance.
The opening goal did not diminish the Americans’ attacking spirit, but Richie Williams’ side could not create any clear-cut chances to find an equaliser.
And with half an hour remaining, Victor Osimhen doubled Nigeria’s lead after cleverly beating two defenders and calmly finishing past Pulisic.
To make matters worse for USA, Auston Trusty was shown a straight red card three minutes from time, which will require coach Williams to make some changes in his backline ahead of the next match against Croatia on Tuesday.
In the other group game, Croatia held host Chile to a 1-1 draw – meaning the reigning champions are top of Group A with three points.
