Nigeria revived their hopes of reaching the quarterfinal after beating New Zealand 4-0 in an FIFA U17 Women's World Cup fixture at Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Margao on Thursday.
Having lost their opening fixture against Germany by 2-1 after surrendering a first half lead, the Flamingos started the game in a bid to bounce back against the Ferns with urgency and it was not a surprise when they took the deserved lead with only 16th minute through Amina Bello off Oluwatimininu Adeshina.
The goal-hungry Bankole Olowookere's side continued their onslaught and found another breakthrough when Bello set up up Miracle Usani to double the lead in the 34th minute to hand the Nigerians a comfortable first half lead.
After the recess, they maintained their high pressing but were made to wait until the 75th minute to grab the third of the match when Bello assisted Taiwo Afolabi's brilliant long strike.
The Ferns, who lost 3-1 to Chile in their opener, however, made attempts to find a consolation but their hopes were dashed when Adeshina aided substitute Etim Edidiong to complete the Flamingos the deserved rout.
The win took Nigeria to top of the table on three points from two matches while New Zealand, who will later take on Germany, are second of the group with three points. The loss to Nigeria for New Zealand could mean the end of their campaign after back to back group stage defeats in the competition.
Meanwhile, striker Opeyemi Ajakaye was voted the Player of the Match for being a constant thorn in the flesh of the Ferns despite she could not get on the scoresheet.
The Flamingos will hope to guaranteee their place in the quarterfinal when they face Chile in their final group game on Monday, 17 October.
