The Golden Eaglets of Nigeria began their FIFA U-17 World Cup title defence late Saturday evening by thrashing the United States of America by a 2-0 goal margin at the Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago De Chile.
The Emmanuel Amuneke tutored side drew blank in the first half of the encounter, with the US team staying resolute in defence despite several incursions from the Nigerian attackers.
The US team had the first clear chance of the game when Haji Wright blew a Christian Pulisic cross over the Nigerian crossbar in the 13th minute.
There were also pockets of chances from both sides throughout the first half, but the defenders on both sides stuck to their guns to deny marauding strikers.
All that however changed when a defensive blunder by the Americans gifted Chukwudi Agor the opportunity to lash on to a loose ball and drive the Golden Eaglets ahead in the 50th minute.
However, Agor’s goal did not dampen the Americans’ spirits as they continued to attack until another defensive blunder caused captain of the US team to nervously clear the ball deep in his penalty area into the path of Nigeria forward, Victor Osimhen who blasted the ball into the back of the net behind US goalkeeper, William Pulisic in the 61st minute.
As if that was not enough, US defender Auston Trusty was red-carded three minutes from time, although the Americans were able to hold their nerves to make sure the deficit did not increase.
Nigeria next plays host nation Chile on Tuesday, with the US set to trade tackles with Croatia.
Nigeria, with the highest number of trophies won at the competition (4), seek a fifth title to add to their haul, having won the 1985, 1993, 2007 and 2013 editions of the competition.