Posted by By GBOLAHAN DADA on
Goalkeeper, Oladele Ajiboye became a hero on a day Nigeria entered the history books once again when the Golden Eaglets defeated Spain on 3-0 penalties to win FIFA Under-17 World Championship in South Korea.
•Beat Spain 3-0 on penalties to lift FIFA U-17 World Championship
• Ajiboye becomes instant hero
Goalkeeper, Oladele Ajiboye became a hero on a day Nigeria entered the history books once again when the Golden Eaglets defeated Spain on 3-0 penalties to win FIFA Under-17 World Championship in South Korea.
The Eaglets' goaltender saved three penalty kicks to give Nigeria the much-needed victory when the chips were down in the final of the competition.
Having won the maiden edition in 1985 in China with another wonderful experience in Japan 1993, Nigeria put up superlative show against the European team to win the championship for the third time.
It was a match that was played not with a fear of losing, but rather a longing for glory. Both sides pressed for victory, with only the woodwork and some excellent goalkeeping ensuring a 0-0 scoreline after 120 minutes. It was the first-ever goalless draw in the final of the competition, leading to its fourth penalty shoot-out.
Spain missed their first three penalties, and the Flying Eaglets converted all of theirs, through Matthew Edile, Daniel Joshua and Ganiyu Osei.
Macauley Chrisantus was voted the second-best player of the tournament, behind Germany's Toni Kroos. The Nigerian also won the tournament top-scorer award, with seven goals.
Ghana's Ransford Osei was the second-top scorer, finding the target six times.
Ghana had to settle for fourth place after losing 2-1 to Germany in the third-place play-off match.
Osei pulled the Black Starlets level, but Germany scored the winner two minutes into second-half stoppage time.