Nigeria vs Benin – LiveBlog

January 29th, 2008 | by: chris | Comments(24)

Nigeria’s destiny is in Cote d’Ivoire’s hands today. The Super Eagles need to win against Benin, and hope that Cote d’Ivoire beat Mali. And even then the winning margin in one of those games needs to be greater than one.

Nigeria 2-0 Benin

An uplifting victory for the Super Eagles, as they scored their first two goals on their way into the knockout stages, thanks in large part to a little help from the Elephants. Nigeria has been a much improved team in the second half, especially their passing, which was a little too strong in the opening stanza. If they can recreate the second half over the course of a full 90, their outlook becomes much brighter.

MOTM goes to Mikel Obi, who scored the first goal and dropped the pass in front of Yakubu which sealed the victory. They needed someone to create better chances in the second half an he did just that.

Uch goes down hard….final whistle.

88′ I think someone has a flame thrower in the stands. Yikes. (Or maybe it’s just an industrial strength flair. And just to clear things up, I don’t think he/she is hosing own people.)

3-0 Ivory Coast, and that’s all she wrote folks. It’s Nigeria and the Ivory Coast through to the knockouts, just as all expected.

85′ YAKUBU! 2-0! Nigeria is through now. A striker’s finish, doing what Nsofor couldn’t.

84′ Omotoyossi makes himself a chance and puts it over the bar. This game isn’t over by any stretch.

83′ Nsofor! Holy sitter miss. That was their ticket thru right there. Fires it yards left of the post

78′ Uche drops one off to Nwaneri who fires one over the bar. Lots of back and forth the last few minutes. Not much coming of it.

73′ Ngeria owning possession right now, in large part thanks to Odemwingie.
69′ Free kick Nigeria on a Yakubu tackle.

I’m not kidding when I say Nigeria just needs to get the ball to Nsofor, play a 1-2, and watch him burn by the entire Benin squad. He’s completely owning the wing, and the LB isn’t even paying all that much attention. We’ll assume he’s conceding defeat.

67′ Nsofor flicks one off the corner of the woodwork. Man, that’s game, set, match right there.

65′ Nsofor may have just won a spot on the Nigerian Olympic track team with that run. Jebus. Goal kick.

66′ Uche nearly puts in #2, the outstretched arms of Djidonou keep Benin in the game.

62′ Odemwingie booked for a dive. I’d give him a 8.5 only because it looks like he actually tripped on his own feet while simulating. That takes talent.

58′ Omotoyossi nearly becomes Mali’s favorite adopted son by making space in the box but skips it wide.

55′ Nsofor is trying to nail the coffin shut. Powerful ground hugger skips to the right of the goal

54′ Well, what a time to get the first goal of the Tourny. Second half oof the last group game and they still have a chance to go through. And I believe if these two scores hold up, 1-0 for IC and Nigeria, the Eagles are through on Fair Play…………..scratch that. Marc Zoro. 2-0 Ivory Coast. massive turn of events for Nigeria in the last 5 minutes.

The massive clusterfuck in front of the goal was too much for Benin to handle. Taiwo’s Howitzer was too much for the keeper to handle and all of Nigeria pounced on the rebound, Obi finally getting the ball right at the goal mouth to head in the sitter.

51′ Djidonou nearly gifted the Nigerians a goal by playing the offside trap then failing to clear the ball far enough. Taiwo standing over the free kick….sub Nigeria, Utaka for Nsofor….Taiwo saved. NIGERIA 1-0 on the rebound. Mikel Obi!

48′ Uche dropped one to Yakubu who’d posted up just outside the 6 yard box ann his shot is stifled. A little more space and we’re probably talking 1-0 Nigeria.

46′ Austin Ejide just make an utterly fantastic save on a ball which was heading out of bounds. A for effort.

Benin is coming out too win.

Back to the game….

Halftime. Nigeria just needs some shorter, more accurate passes and they can find/make the space to get some quality chances on goal. With their strikeforce, putting them in shouldn’t be a problem. Then again, they’ve still yet to score in the tournament…..

43′ Mikel Obi looking fantastic with the ball on the string in the box, but puts the shotpass over the cross bar. It’s always that final movement which is letting Nigeria down. It’s coming down to execution.

* Still 1-0 over on Daryl’s side.

39′ I swear, if Nigeria had an Andrea Pirlo type who could make that inch-perfect final pass they’d have about 17 goals so far. Some of the passes are just letting them down.

34′ That’s cruel. They just gave a look in to the IC-Mali game and nothing happened. Was expecting another Salomon Kalou slalom.

30′ Djidonou, Benin’s keeper, is covering the entire box and even a little bit out of the area. I hope his bonus is based on “metres covered”. (That said, he somehow reminds me a little bit o Fabien Barthez, which could be both good and frightening for Squirrel fans.)

28′ Great cross from the left towards Yakubu but the keeper does well to swat it away before he can get his head to the ball. Best chance yet.

25′ Nigeria putting some low balls into the box from the flanks, just missing the foot of the striker by thismuch. Eventually, those will start to connect. Good sign.

21′ Taiwo crosses one into the box, cleared well by Benin, and Mikel OBi heads the corner over the bar. Nigeria showing some better efficiency in the final third now.

18′ Benin’s keeper comes waaaaay too far out and was beat, but Odemwingie couldn’t get it back into the box.

15′ Whoa, Benin nearly put one in from distance, Ejide did well to parry it wide. Benin isn’t here for the consolation prize, apparently.

12′ Not many good scoring chances for either side thus far.

Scratch that, Utaka put a good ball into Yakubu but it was just a touch too strong.

10′ Ivory Coast is doing their part. Drogba scores. Good start for the Nigerians.

9′ Yobo with a poor clearance, which can be a surefire way to spell disaster.

7′ Alright, stream crapped out for a few minutes. Nigeria appears to be throwing themselves forward to get those two goals they need.
And kickoff….

Taye Taiwo is looking all business today, but then again when doesn’t he.

And here we go, everyone’s in the tunnel, ready to enter out onto the field for the game. Benin in their yellow and Nigeria in their still-not-eye-popping green kits.

Group B
Date: January 29
Kick-off: 1700
Venue: Essipong Stadium, Sekondi

Preview

So here’s what it comes down to for Berti Vogts and the Super Eagles:

• Nigeria have to beat Benin
• Nigeria need Cote d’Ivoire to beat Mali
• Because Mali and Nigeria drew 0-0 it all comes down to goal difference and goals scored
• Either Nigeria need to win by more than one goal or Mali need to lose by more than one goal

If all finishes level (a 1-0 win for Nigeria, a 1-0 loss for Mali) then it comes down to Fair Play. Whoever has the least yellow and red cards advances. Right now that’s Nigeria (two yellows to Mali’s four) but if that is even at the end of today the two teams will literally draw lots to see who advances.

Scout Report – Nigeria

After a 1-0 loss to Cote d’Ivoire and a 0-0 draw with Mali, Berti Vogts players will be tense going into this final game. For all the attacking talents: (Yakubu, Obafemi Martins, John Utaka and more) his team is yet to find the net. Star midfielder John Mikel Obi is yet to impose himself on a game, and captain Kanu is still out with a knee injury. Even with those worries Nigeria should be expected to beat Benin. All they can do is beat them as well as possible (a 2-0 win guarantees qualification if Mali lose to Cote d’Ivoire) and hope for the best from Accra.

Scout Report – Benin

A battling 1-0 loss to Mali was followed by a 4-1 beating from Cote d’Ivoire. Coach Reinhard Fabisch summed it up thus: “You can not compare a Mercedes Benz to a bike. You saw the difference between second tier professionals and world class players.” Benin have no hope of qualifying from Group B, will want to finish on a high. In the likes of Stéphane Sessegnon they have some quality, but defenders like 37 year old Alain Gaspoz may will struggle against the pace of Obafemi Martins.

Team Blogs: Visit Emmanuel on the Nigeria blog.

Streams: Try this, and read our guide to streaming if you’re confused. Alternatively you can cough up some cash and subscribe to an official service.