Nigeria win U-17 crown
Nigeria won the FIFA Under-17 World Cup Sunday, beating Spain 3-0 in a penalty shoot-out at the Seoul World Cup Stadium.
The match went to 30 minutes of extra time, but ended in a scoreless draw, despite a near miss by Nigerian skipper Kingsley Udoh in the 14th minute of extra time.
None of Spain's first three penalty shots found the net, while Matthew Edile, Daniel Joshua, and Ganiyu Oseni all scored for Nigeria in the shootout.
Spain's Asier Illarramendi missed on the low left side of the net, while Fran Merida's shot toward bottom right corner was saved by Oladele Ajiboye.
Then the 1.78-metre-tall keeper punched out a shot by Spain Iago shot for Nigeria's third Under-17 World Cup title, tying them with Brazil for the most championships.
There were no real scoring chances for either side until the second-half injury time, when Spain's Daniel Aquino struck a loose ball in the air inside the box but the ball ended right at Ajiboye.
Nigeria's substitute Sheriff Isa answered back with a right-foot strike between two Spanish players, Alex and Sergio, but keeper David De Gea got a piece of the ball to tip it over the crossbar.
In the play-off match for third place earlier Sunday, Germany edged Ghana 2-1 with a last-minute goal by substitute Alexander Esswein.
German skipper Toni Kroos opened the scoring in the 17th minute, picking up his team-leading fifth goal of the tournament. Ransford Osei scored his sixth goal of the tournament for Ghana.
Kroos was voted the Golden Ball winner as the tournament's best player, while Nigerian forward Macauley Chrisantus was the top marksman with seven goals.
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