Nigeria’s hopes of a first ever FIFA men’s U-20 World Cup title ended on Sunday evening after a 1-0 defeat against South Korea in their quarterfinals clash at the Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades in Santiago del Estero.
Coach Ladan Bosso curiously did not name pacy forward Haliru Sarki in the matchday squad.
The Koreans dominated possession early in the game but the Eagles had their moments.
In the 25th minute, the two-time runners-up in the history of the tournament created a good opportunity from an interplay of passes but a swift clearance of the ball saw the chance wasted.
Four minutes later, AC Milan youngster Victor Eletu went past the challenges of two markers and let fly a shot parried away for corner kick by goalkeeper Kim Joonhong.
Both sides had at least a chance each at the opposite ends before the first half break but failed to take them.
Bosso introduced the duo of Umeh Emmanuel, Kehinde Ibrahim and Joshua John in the second half.
The Flying Eagles were let off the hook in the dying moments of the game as Daniel Daga was not penalized for a penalty after having his hand in the chest of Lee Seungjoon.
The game went into extra time and within five minutes of play, South Korea scored from a corner kick as Choi Seok-hyun escaped the attention of two Nigerian players to head the ball past a stranded Kingsley Aniagboso.
Second half substitute Umeh Emmanuel was close to grabbing an equaliser in the second half of extra half when he controlled the ball and hit a shot just at the edge of the box that saw the ball fly past the crossbar.
Umeh Emmanuel’s shot in the 120th minute could only come off the side netting before the final whistle went.
