| Live Match Commentary |
Up-to-the-Second Score: England 0, Nigeria 0 - Fulltime FULLTIME MATCH REPORT |
90 +1' - Referee Hall blows the final whistle. England advances to the second round, Nigeria belatedly wins its first point of the competition. |
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89' - England has closed down the game, content to settle for a draw. |
85' - Ikedia replaces Opabunmi. |
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85' - Scholes wins a freekick on England's left. Beckham drives in low and it bounces through to Enyeama. |
84' - Bridge replaces the hard-working Cole on the left. |
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83' - Aghahowa receives the ball in the England box but Mills steers him away from goal and the Nigerian collapses in a heap. |
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80' - Sinclair clips a nice pass forward to the charging Cole. The pair are working well together on England's notoriously-problematic left side. |
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78' - Cole beats Sodje and crosses from goalline again. It's slightly mishit and flies towards goal, rolling along the crossbar before drifting behind. |
76' - Owen makes way for Vassell. |
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75' - Cole leaves Sodje for dead on left, cuts a low cross towards Owen at front post, but the ball bounces off him to Sheringham. It's a clear chance in front of goal but Sheringham snaps at it and miskicks over the bar. |
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74' - Sinclair wins a freekick on edge of Nigerian box. But Scholes takes it quickly, wasting possession and denying Beckham a shooting chance. |
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72' - Akwuegbu fouled from behind by Campbell, but no yellow card for the England defender. Yobo tries a 40-yard shot but he's not even close. |
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71' - Scholes surges through Nigeria' midfield, heading straight for goal, but his control lets him down as he reaches the edge of the box. |
68' - Heskey makes way for veteran striker Sheringham. |
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66' - Sinclair breaks down left, but his cross for Heskey is blocked out. |
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65' - Okocha gets too much space in midfield. He plays a one-two with Akwuegbu to open a shooting chance on edge of box but his weak side-footer is straight at Seaman. |
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64' - Corner to Nigeria off Mills. The cross is too high and England gets possession back. |
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63' - Once again, Beckham is off-target, shooting high over the bar. |
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62' - Beckham cuts a nice pass to Owen on right. He's pulled by Sodje for a freekick wide of the box. It's cleared but England gets another freekick in shooting range. |
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59' - England breaks from corner, Heskey finds space on right and sends in a low cross into six-yard box. Owen is inches from making contact. |
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58' - Aghahowa looks as if he's through on Seaman but Ferdinand's pace gets him there just ahead of the Nigerian, conceding a corner. It's another outstanding piece of defending from the Leeds man. |
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57' - Beckham orchestrates a nice piece of play, linking Mills on right and Sinclair on left, but England can't work an opening. |
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54' - Sodje concedes a freekick in Beckham range. The England captain shoots high over the wall and it just clips side netting as it drifts wide. |
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53' - Aghahowa and Obiorah combine nicely but once again Ferdinand reads the danger and shields ball out for a goalkick. |
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50' - Another England corner. Ferdinand wins header at the back post and Sinclair plays the ball back into the danger zone but Enyeama grabs it. |
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49' - Christopher tries a shot from long-range and Seaman lets it roll past post. |
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48' - Scholes wins corner but Nigeria heads clear. |
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47' - Aghahowa pounces on a loose pass from Campbell to Ferdinand but England gets back in numbers to deny the Nigerian a shooting chance. |
45' - England kicks off second half still on course for a place in the last 16. |
| Second Half |
45 +1' - England ends half on top although Nigeria created more chances and enjoyed more possession. |
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44' - England's best spell of the half leads to a corner but Heskey heads over. |
43' - Scholes blasts a shot from 30 yards. Enyeama just gets a fingertip on it and the ball bounces back off the post. A fantastic save by the 19-year-old. |
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42' - Sinclair plays a square ball across the edge of box for Mills but the Leeds defender pulls his shot wide. |
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41' - Cole gets inside Okocha down left but his cross his blocked. |
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40' - Beckham's cross is loose in area, Owen tries to shoot but can't find space and finally Scholes blazes a shot over the bar. |
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39' - Another patient move by Nigeria sets up Okocha to shoot from 30 yards out but he miscues and the ball flies well wide. |
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36' - Okocha plays in Akwuegbu on right of penalty box and Seaman stands tall to beat away his close-range shot at near post. England clears the corner, but Sven-Goran Eriksson's team is living dangerously. |
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34' - Owen feints past Yobo and runs at Nigerian defense. His shot bounces off Okorononkwo's sliding leg but American referee Brian Hall awards Nigeria a goalkick. |
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33' - Mills concedes a corner from Akwuegbu's looping cross. England clears the danger and breaks forward through Sinclair. |
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31' - Beckham tries a freekick from 35 yards but it's comfortable for Enyeama. |
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30' - Seaman spills Okocha's bending freekick at his feet, Aghahowa reacts quickest but he pokes the rebound wide. |
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29' - Udeze runs at England left and he's clumsily bundled over for a freekick by Butt. |
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27' - Shakhtar Donetsk striker Aghahowa is hurt and gets treatment. |
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26' - Nigeria tries to launch a quick break after winning possession in midfield but Ferdinand reads the danger and effortlessly cuts out the danger. |
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22' - Obiorah wins a Nigerian corner. Sodje rises above Campbell but he's impeded the Arsenal defender and it's an England freekick. |
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21' - Mills wins another corner. Ferdinand can't reach it and Nigeria brings ball out through midfield. |
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19' - Beckham works a shooting chance on edge of box but his right-footed curler is straight at Enyeama. |
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19' - Owen wins another corner -- another testing cross for Enyeama, and he palms the ball away nervously. |
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18' - England breaks up Nigeria' spell of possession and Mills breaks up right wing, swinging in a low cross for Heskey. The Liverpool striker gets ahead of his marker but Enyeama falls on his shot at near post. |
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16' - The corner falls short and Beckham heads clear. |
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16' - Sodje slides in Aghahowa down right and Sinclair is forced to concede the corner. |
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14' - It's a hot and humid day in Osaka and the pace is slow. |
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12' - The short corner is clipped in for Owen but Enyeama gets there first. |
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11' - Second England corner. Young GK Enyeama misses the ball but Ferdinand's effort is blocked for another corner. |
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10' - Nigeria retains possession patiently until Udeze drops a deep cross from left to back post. Aghahowa stretches but he can't make a decent contact. |
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8' - Beckham swings in England's first corner of the game, but Nigeria clears the danger. |
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7' - Aghahowa makes first real opening of the game, turning Ashley Cole but David Seaman smothers his shot. |
1' - Nigeria gets game under way with England needing a draw against the already-eliminated west Africans to progress from Group F. |
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Kickoff at 2:30 a.m. EDT; 6:30 a.m. GMT |
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