U20WC: Nigeria’s Flying Eagles off the mark with win over Dominican Republic

Ladan Bosso and his Flying Eagles team have kicked off their FIFA U20 World Cup campaign in the best possible way, with a win.

Nigeria defeated debutants Dominican Republic 2-1 in a keenly contested encounter in Mendoza on Sunday night.

Samson Lawal was the hero as he netted the decisive winner to give the Flying Eagles a come-from-behind win.

In what was a game filled with errors from both sides and plenty of VAR interventions, it was the rookies who took an early lead after a poor foul in the box by Nigeria.

The VAR assisted the referee who awarded the penalty with Edison Azcona calmly slotting home to put the Republic ahead.

Just after the half-hour mark, Nigeria equalised this time through a gift from the Dominican defense as both side went into the break level.

In the second half, Nigeria dominated but could not break the Dominican team down but eventually scored the winner following another bizarre gift.

Lawal was at the right place and time to punish a poor pass from the defence to give Nigeria the win.