Nigerians Shine as England Lift FIFA World Cup

Nigerians today shared a historic moment with English people, when England defeated Venezuela to lift the 2017 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in South Korea.

There were six Nigerian players in the English team that won the cup for the first time, since the tournament started 21 years ago in 1977.

The final scoreline is 1-0.

In fact, England qualified for today’s final with two goals scored by two Nigerians in their 3-1 victory against Italy.

The goals were scored by Dominic Solanke and Ademola Lookman.

Nineteen-year-old Solanke was also awarded the Golden Ball, after emerging as the most impressive player at the tournament.

He follows in a long line of great players to lift the prize, such as Javier Saviola (2001), Lionel Messi (2005), Sergio Aguero (2007) and Paul Pogba (2013), among other names down the years.

Other Nigerians in the team were Fikayo Tomori, Josh Onomah, Seyi Ojo, and Ovie Ejaria.

England got the lone goal in the thrilling match at Suwon World Cup Stadium today from Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Calvert-Lewin scored the winning goal in the 35th minute, when he finished from close range after his initial effort was blocked by Wuilker Farinez, but the rebound fell into the path of the Everton forward and he made no mistake with his second chance.

Newsmakersng reports that England goalkeeper Freddie Woodman made two vital saves in the second half. The first was a one-on-one opportunity for Sergio Cordova created by Yeferson Soteldo, and the second from the penalty spot from Adalberto Penaranda.

The match was evenly contested throughout, with both sides hitting the woodwork, but it was England’s evening in the end, as the Young Lions held on to become U-20 World Cup champions for the first time.

The players emerged as the first Three Lions team to win a final since the famous team of 1966.

No England side has won a World Cup final at any level since Bobby Moore lifted the famous trophy 51 years ago, but Bournemouth’s Lewis Cook had the honour of lifting the trophy on Sunday.

They came close twice before, reaching the semi-finals in 1981 and 1993, with the latter team featuring Manchester United treble-winner Nicky Butt.

Nigeria never won the Under-20 World Cup, but the country was runner-up in 1997 and 2013, and was third place winner in 1985.

Players in the Nigerian team also won prizes in past tournaments.

Pius Ikedia won the Silver Ball, when the tournament was held in Nigeria in 1999.

John Obi Mikel also won the Silver Ball, when it was held in the Netherlands in 2005, and Taye Taiwo won the Bronze Ball at the same edition.

Nigeria also won Fair-play award, when the tournament was held in Columbia in 2011.

The historic moment came three days after another historic moment in England, where seven people of Nigerian heritage were elected into the United Kingdom’s parliament on Thursday. Two are representing the Conservative party and five the Labour Party.

The winners are: Chuka Umunna representing Streatham, Bim Afolami, Hitchin and Harpenden, Fiona Onasanya, Peterborough; Chi Onwurah, Newcastle, Kate Osamor, Edmonton, Kemi Badenoch, Saffron Walden and Helen Grant, Maidstone and The Weald.

Fiona Onasanya, a first timer, beat by 607 votes the Conservative candidate, Tory Stewart Jackson, who had been Peterborough’s MP for 12 years.

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