Baku (Azerbaijan) – Nigeria’s prolific striker, Chinwendu Ihezuo, has set a new tournament record for the most goals scored by an individual in one game.
Chinwendu set the record on Tuesday with her five strikes against host Azerbaijan during a group A match in the ongoing FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup at the Lankaran Stadium in Baku.
She overtook Germany’s Kyra Malinowski and Korea Republic’s Yeo Minji, who had each scored four against South Africa and Nigeria respectively in the 2010 edition.
Only two games into the campaign, Gambia have already equalled the tournament's record for goals conceded, set by South Africa which conceded 17 in three matches in the 2010 edition.
After 16 matches, the participating teams in the tournament have all played two each.
While the U.S. and Japan are the only teams that have yet to concede any goal, Azerbaijan, New Zealand, Gambia and Uruguay have yet to score.
The epochal encounter saw the Flamingoes riding roughshod over their helpless opponents who were no match for them.
The 11-0 score line became the biggest win ever for an African team at a FIFA-organised tournament, with Chinwendu scoring five goals.
Her team mates, Halimatu Ayinla and Tessy Biahwo netted two goals each, while Aminat Yakubu and Joy Bokiri scored one each.
On the otherhand, New Zealand have gone three games without finding the net, thereby setting a new tournament record for the longest scoreless streak at 345 minutes and counting.
Japan's Yui Hasegawa is only the second player to have come off the bench to score a brace in a FIFA U-17 Women's tournament.
Flamingoes in action
The first was the Korea Republic's Yeo Minji, who was on target twice against South Africa in 2010.
Four of Wednesday's goals were netted by substitutes.
Besides Hasegawa's double, there were decisive strikes by Byanca, who grabbed Brazil's winner against Mexico, and Ricarda Kiessling, who bagged an injury-time equaliser for Germany against China.
Priscilla Okyere is the first Ghanaian player to score a brace in the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.
Japan have extended their unbeaten run to a tournament record of seven matches, having strung together six wins and one draw.
Both of Germany's draws in the tournament have come against Asian opponents.
Before sharing the spoils with China, the Germans were held to a 1-1 draw by Korea Democratic People's Republic during the 2008 edition in New Zealand. (NAN)
