Ibrahim Said scored the first hat-trick of the FIFA U-17 World Cup Brazil 2019™ to power Nigeria past Ecuador 3-2 on Tuesday night at the Estadio Olimpico in Goiania. The Golden Eaglets mounted a comeback for a second straight match and are now qualified for the Round of 16, sitting on six points.
Said starred for Nigeria from start to finish. First he positioned himself in the right place to capitalise on an errant pass from Ecuador goalkeeper Joan Lopez in the fifth minute. When his side fell behind and trailed well into the second half, Said was there to complete his brace and hat-trick in the 85th and 89th minutes. The second goal was the pick of the bunch, a curling, highlight-reel blast from the outside the left corner of the box.
La Tri went blow for blow with Nigeria for the majority of the match, trading opportunities. They even came out of the locker room after half-time enjoying more meaningful possession, which led to Johan Mina’s go-ahead penalty goal in the 56th minute. But the Golden Eaglets began to wrest the game from Ecuador in the 80th minute, and their lead slipped away soon thereafter.
in other matches, Angola qualified for the next round after defeating Canada 2-1. Host, Brazil hammered New Zealand 3-0 while Australia and Hungary settled their encounter 2-2.
