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Kiamaka Nadoozi saved a penalty kick taken by Canadian captain Christine Sinclair in the 50th minute and Nigeria cruised to a shock 0-0 draw against Canada on Friday at the Women’s World Cup in Melbourne, Australia.
It was the opening match for both teams in the second group. Australia lead the group after beating the Republic of Ireland 1-0 on Thursday.
Canada, the gold medalist at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, is ranked seventh in the world by FIFA. Nigeria is ranked 40.
Nigeria ended the match with ten men after Deborah Abiodun was shown a red card in second-half stoppage time for a late, hard challenge on the back of Ashley Lawrence.
The decisive moment of the game came early in the second half. After a video review, Francisca Ordega was adjudged to have fouled Sinclair in the box. Nnadozie jumped to her left and served Sinclair’s low kick.
Sinclair, 40, was trying to become the first player – male or female – to score in six World Cups. She is the all-time leader – male or female – in international goals, with 190.
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