The Nigerian coach and local media lamented the team’s inability to capitalize on scoring chances.

The Republic of Korea Under-20 (U-20) soccer team, led by Kim Eun-Joong, defeated Nigeria 1-0 in extra time in the quarterfinals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2023 at the Unico Mar de Ciudades in Santiago del Estero, Argentina at 2:30 a.m. ET on Friday.

It was not an easy match. South Korea began to create chances cautiously early in the first half. However, Nigeria used their superior physicality to their advantage in contested situations against the Koreans. The Nigerian attack was also fierce. However, Korea managed to overcome all the obstacles and ended the first half without conceding a goal.

At the start of the second half, coach Kim Eun-joong brought on Bae Jun-ho for Kang Sung-jin and continued to push forward with Park Hyun-bin, Lee Ji-han, Choi Ye-hoon, and Hwang In-taek. Despite some questionable calls from the referee, Korea kept their composure. However, they were unable to capitalize on their chances and the game went into overtime.

Fortunately, the long-awaited goal came five minutes into the overtime period. Lee Seung-won sent in a cross from a corner kick and Choi Seok-hyun finished with a header. Nigeria made two more substitutions in the first half of the extra time, but they were unable to break through the Korean defense and squandered their chances with poor finishing. 먹튀검증

In the end, the 120-minute battle between the two teams ended in a 1-0 victory for South Korea. This is the second consecutive semifinal appearance for South Korea after the 2019 tournament (where they finished as runners-up). South Korea will now face off against Italy. On the other side, Uruguay, who beat the United States, and Israel, who knocked out Brazil, will battle for the final ticket.

In Nigeria, local media lamented the poor goal scoring. “Pragmatic South Korea knocked out Nigeria,” wrote Nigerian outlet The Guardian. South Korea proved that soccer is won by goals, not possession. They took advantage of Nigeria’s lapses in concentration to score. After that, Nigeria went on the attack but could not break through the Korean defense.”

“Nigeria coach Ladan Bosso said South Korea had only one decisive chance and expressed his disappointment that Nigeria missed numerous chances,” Nigerian media outlet Premium Times reported.