Nigeria has struggled through issues with their federation this summer, but they're into the medal rounds of the men's Olympic soccer tournament after a 2-0 win over Denmark on Saturday.
In one of the biggest stories pre-Olympics, Nigeria were stranded at their training camp after their charter flight was canceled for non-payment. They eventually got to Brazil seven hours before their first match started, where they proceeded to score five goals. After winning their group, the Super Eagles threatened to boycott the quarterfinal due to not getting paid, but the players came to an agreement with the federation before the match.
And in the quarterfinal, Nigeria were well on top from start to finish. Captain John Obi Mikel got his team onto the board in the 15th minute, turning in a cross from Imoh Ezekiel, who spent the entire game terrorizing the Danish defense on the counter-attack. Denmark had a nice flurry of attacking action in the final five minutes of the first half, creating a couple of corners and forcing Daniel Emmanuel into one save, but Nigeria was well in control after that.
Aminu Umar sealed the win for Nigeria in the 59th minute, heading in a corner by Mikel. Denmark goalkeeper Jeppe Hojbjerg charged out to collect the ball but never got close to it, and Umar's header was perfectly placed.
Denmark struggled even to mount a challenge in the final minutes, with the Super Eagles passing the ball around to kill off the game without much of a problem. Nigeria will now face Germany in the semifinals.
No comments:
Post a Comment