Africa's last survivors in this World Cup took on a pair of European giants, and this is what happened:
Round of 16: 1E France vs. 2F Nigeria
Result: 2-0 win for France
Goalscorers: 79' Paul Pogba (Juventus), 90+2' Joseph Yobo own goal (Norwich City)
Bookings: 54' Blaise Matuidi (PSG)
Lineups
France (4-5-1)
Hugo Lloris (Tottenham, captain); Mathieu Debuchy (Newcastle United), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Patrice Evra (Manchester United); Yohan Cabaye (PSG), Paul Pogba (Juventus), Blaise Matuidi (PSG), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid); Olivier Giroud (Arsenal)
Changes from last match
Bacary Sagna, Mamadou Sakho (injured), Lucas Digne, Morgan Schneiderlin, Antoine Griezmann, and Moussa Sissoko left on the bench, allowing Debuchy, Varane, Evra, Cabaye (was suspended from Ecuador game due to yellow cards), Valbuena, and Giroud to start.
Subs:
Antoine Griezmann (Real Sociedad) 62' for Olivier Giroud
Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle United) 90+4' for Mathieu Valbuena
Nigeria (4-4-2)
Vincent Enyeama (Lille); Efe Ambrose (Celtic), Joseph Yobo (Norwich City, captain), Juwon Oshaniwa (Ashdod), Kenneth Omeruo (Middlesbrough); Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow), Ogenyi Onazi (Lazio), John Obi Mikel (Chelsea), Victor Moses (Liverpool); Peter Odemwingie (Stoke City), Emmanuel Emenike (Fenerbahce)
Changes from last match
Michael Babatunde replaced by Moses in the starting lineup, otherwise same starters and formation used against Argentina
Subs:
Reuben Gabriel (Waasland-Beveren) 59' for Ogenyi Onazi
Uche Nwofor (Heerenveen) 89' for Victor Moses
Both teams failed to get out of the group stage in the last World Cup but just because they got farther than last time didn't mean they were satisfied just by getting to this point. Both sides believed they could get into the quarterfinals (for Nigeria, it would've been their first quarterfinal ever and Africa's 4th, while for France that was quite familiar but inconsistently visited territory). Nigeria looked up to the task and seemingly scored a goal in the first half but Emmanuel Emenike's effort was ruled offside by the referee Mark Geiger. France had most of the chances and Vicent Enyeama was more busy than Hugo Lloris was, but Enyeama was not phased and made a lot of good saves, denying a lot of good chances France had including a powerful header from Karim Benzema. But in a corner kick in the 79' minute, a Vincent Enyeama blunder and poor marking all around by the Nigerians resulted in an easy opportunity for Paul Pogba to finally put France in front. And although Nigeria tried their best to equalize with what little time they had left, all that happened was their captain Joseph Yobo (celebrating his 100th cap for Nigeria, the first Nigerian player to reach that milestone) scoring an own goal (which Antoine Griezmann thought, or claimed, was his) which only sealed France's victory. Now France move on in the tournament with potentially their toughest opponent yet standing by. Considering France's opposition so far, their appearance in the quarterfinals wasn't quite a shock but they still have been playing quite well. However, all those missed opportunities are more likely to go punished when playing a stronger team.
Elimination Analysis: Nigeria
From a disappointing early exit in 2010 in their home continent and their president threatening to ban Nigeria from playing for two years, a lot has gone right for Nigeria these last four years. Their players have made moves to bigger clubs (Enyeama from Hapoel Tel Aviv to Lille, Victor Moses from Wigan Athletic to Liverpool on loan from Chelsea, Peter Odemwingie from Lokomotiv Moscow to Stoke City), and they put together a decent showing at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup which resulted from an impressive African Cup of Nations victory that same year. Even though they matched their best finish at a World Cup with a Round of 16 appearance, there is still area for improvement, especially since Nigeria were lucky to get this far. Had Edin Dzeko's goal been correctly allowed, Bosnia and Herzegovina would've made it through to the last 16 at Nigeria's expense. Their defense remains a work in progress, with Joseph Yobo not getting any younger (33) and Efe Ambrose being their next best defender, whose Champions League experience with Celtic is largely appreciated for this team. The key now for Nigeria is consistency. They have to be hungry for more and assert their dominance at least in a regional perspective. If Nigeria can constantly match or best the likes of Cote D'Ivoire and Ghana, then that would be good for them.
Round of 16: 1G Germany vs. 2H Algeria
Result: Germany escape with a 2-1 win
Goalscorers: 92' Andre Schurrle (Chelsea), 120' Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), 120+1' Abdelmoumane Djabou (Club Africain)
Bookings: 42' Rafik Halliche (Academica), 107' Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich)
Lineups
Algeria (5-1-3-1)
Rais M'Bolhi (CSKA Sofia), Mehdi Mostefa (Ajaccio), Esseid Belkalem (Watford), Rafik Halliche (Academica, captain), Aissa Mandi (Reims), Faouzi Ghoulam (Napoli); Mehdi Lacen (Getafe); Saphir Taider (Inter), Sofiane Feghouli (Valencia), Islam Slimani (Sporting CP); El Arbi Hillel Soudani (Dinamo Zagreb)
Subs:
Yacine Brahimi (Granada) 78' for Saphir Taider
Madjid Bougherra (Lekhwiya) 97' for Rafik Halliche
Abdelmoumene Djabou (Club Africain) 100' for El Arbi Hillel Soudani
Germany (4-3-3)
Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Shkodran Mustafi (Sampdoria), Per Mertesacker (Arsenal), Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Benedikt Howedes (Schalke); Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich, captain), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich); Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)
Subs:
Andre Schurrle (Chelsea) 46' for Mario Gotze
Sami Khedira (Real Madrid) 70' for Shkodran Mustafi
Christoph Kramer (Monchengladbach) 109' for Bastian Schweinsteiger
Believe it or not, Algeria had an 100% record against Germany going into this match. A victory in a friendly match as well as a famous 2-1 victory over West Germany in the Group Stage in the 1982 World Cup. However, on the final match day of the group stage, West Germany and Austria played out a convenient 1-0 German win that sent both teams through and eliminated Algeria on goal difference. Known as the "non-aggression pact of Gijon", it's something the Algerians were very upset about. That incident is the reason why the final group matches in major tournaments are played simultaneous now. Germany were expected to dominate and annihilate the Algerians but Algeria looked like they could make history repeat itself, looking dangerous throughout the match. Germany were denied by various good saves by Rais M'Bohli but also screwed up a lot of good chances. The match went to extra time but right at the start of it, Andre Schurrle finally broke through the impressive Algerian defense and scored for Germany. Mesut Ozil sealed the deal and Algeria finally got a goal they deserved as Sofiane Feghouli delivered a great cross to Abdelmoumane Djabou but it was too little too late. Germany, in what definitely was their worst performance of this tournament so far, just made it to the quarterfinals, and France will hope that Germany play like this in that match.
Elimination Analysis: Algeria
In 2010, Algeria were known solely for giving England a hard time and for being the team USA beat to win the group and advance to the second round. They entered this World Cup as one of the teams with the lowest expectations from non-Algerian fans, they exit it as arguably the best African team of the tournament. They scored 7 goals, more than all the goals they obtained in their previous World Cup history. To get out of their group instead of either Russia or South Korea and then causing as much problems as they did to favorites Germany, they have gained a lot of respect from the soccer/football world. This could be the last tournament Algeria are underestimated in, as long as they keep getting results. And with players like Islam Slimani and Sofiane Feghouli, that seems very likely.
Up Next
1F Argentina vs. 2E Switzerland
1H Belgium vs. 2G United States
A showdown between Lionel Messi vs. Xherdan Shaqiri. Both are idols for their respective countries and their teammates, coaches, and fans will look to them to lift their respective sides into their quarterfinals. Aside from a 5-2 defeat to France, Switzerland have looked like a decent team. Argentina have had their work cut out for them so far and needed Lionel Messi to get them this far. However, whichever team gets the most out of their other players besides their main super star will be the one to win.
Belgium and USA both are trying to shake off their underdog statuses compared to the elite teams in the world, but both have talented squads that have their fans excited about their chances of doing well in this World Cup. USA are happy to have survived a group everyone thought would be too much for them, but now they're looking to do even better, and against a vulnerable Belgian side that will likely be without Vincent Kompany, they certainly have a shot. But Belgium are still a vastly talented team with a number of elite clubs in their players' resumes and will like their chances against a USA team they've already beaten twice (1-0 in Brussels, 4-2 in Cleveland) in the Jurgen Klinsmann era.
No comments:
Post a Comment