New Zealand U-17 captain Gordon Murie

New Zealand U-17 captain Gordon Murie

New Zealand's dream run at the under-17 soccer World Cup was brought to a shuddering 5-0 halt by the home team Nigeria in Abuja this morning.

The first New Zealand team to progress to the knockout stages of a World Cup, the young All Whites were comprehensively outplayed by the fired-up defending champions.

The game was effectively over by halftime with Nigeria 3-0 up after making the most of a whopping 72 per cent possession. Under pressure right from the opening whistle, New Zealand defended valiantly but Nigeria opened the scoring after just 14 minutes when Edafe Egbedi was given far too much room in front of goal.

He unleashed a strong left foot shot, which deflected off the foot of New Zealand captain Gordon Murie to leave goalkeeper Coey Turipa with no chance.

With vast tracts of time spent defending, New Zealand rarely troubled the Nigerian defence. Their best chance of the first 45 minutes came when a well-placed free kick into the box left midfielder Cameron Lindsay with a free header which he sent well wide.

Lindsay featured again 20 minutes later, when he was given a straight red card by Swiss referee Massimo Busacca following a studs-up tackle from behind as the Nigerians again threatened New Zealand's goal.

By then, however, Nigeria were 3-0 up. Goals came courtesy of Stanley Okoro in the 24th minute, when he pounced on the loose ball after Turipa did well to parry a long-range screamer, and Egbedi, who found the top left-hand corner after some good work from Aigbe Oliha.

The young All Whites worked hard in the second spell, and kept Nigeria scoreless until the 75th minute, when Sani Emmanuel found the back of the net just 60 seconds after being subbed on, then added Nigeria's fifth and final goal five minutes later.

New Zealand coach Steve Cain was philosophical at the end of the match.

"It was a bridge too far for us tonight - they were too strong, too fast and too clever," Cain said afterwards. "With 11 men on the field it was difficult, with 10 men it was impossible.

"They're a hell of a side. I always thought they were favourites, they're a great team and if anyone beats them, they'll deserve to win it."

New Zealand's path to the second round came with an unbeaten run in pool play, as they held Costa Rica, Burkina Faso and Turkey to draws.

- NZPA