The Flying Eagles on Sunday began their 2023 World Cup campaign with a 2-1 victory over the Dominican Republic.
While the Dominican Republic were making its debut in the competition and Nigeria was hugely favoured, the game was a tightly-contested encounter.
But the Nigerian side fell behind at the Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza when Edison Azcona fired home from the spot to hand his side the advantage after a VAR review indicated that Benjamin Frederick committed a foul.
Come from behind W🦅
Three points in the bag!
Italy up next on Wednesday #NGADOM #SoarFlyingEagles #U20WC pic.twitter.com/EwI23ppf61
— The NFF 🇳🇬 (@thenff) May 21, 2023
Coach Ladan Bosso’s boys continued to pile pressure on their opponents and were duly rewarded with a 32nd-minute own goal from Guillermo De Pena.
In the 70th minute, Samson Lawal doubled the score for the West Africans in the Group D encounter.
While both sides could have scored in the remaining minutes of the game, the match ended in Nigeria’s favour.
With Sunday’s win, Bosso’s side now head into Wednesday’s tie with Italy in high spirits. The Europeans are on the same point as the Flying Eagles after they defeated heavyweights Brazil 3-2.
Nigeria’s last match is against Brazil. That’s three days after the clash against Italy.
