Monday, June 30, 2014

World Cup 2014: France left it late to see Nigeria off

Emmanuel Emenike
Nigeria's Super Eagles had a goal disallowed for offside, and get punished for their own mistakes (Photo Credit: Reuters)
Emmanuel Emenike had a goal ruled out for offside before France scored twice in the last 10 minutes to sent Nigeria out of the World Cup on Monday in their second round encounter. 

The Super Eagles held on until a Paul Pogba header in the 79th minute gave France the lead and bizarrely Josep Yobo scored an own goal in the 90th minute.

It was France 2-0 Nigeria at the Estadio Nacional in Brasili on June 30 despite Nigeria dominating much of the game.

Paul Pogba
Paul Pogba celebrates header against Nigeria (Photo Credti: Getty Images)
After Cameroon had similar problems, Nigeria went into the knock out stage with a row over unpaid match bonuses. Midfielder John Obi Mikel had said the cash row was being put behind ahead of the crucial encounter with the Les Bleus.

The Super Eagles campaign saw them played a goalless draw against Iran in their opening match, secured a narrow 1-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, and lose 3-2 to Argentina in final group match.

They are the first African team to reach the round of 16 after Cameroon and Côte d'Ivoire exit the finals. This is the third time Nigeria reaches the FIFA World Cup round of 16 and have defeated Spain and Bulgaria in 1998 to reach the second round. 


Written by Modou S. Joof


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