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Nigeria lifts country with win over Spain
Posted: Saturday June 13, 1998 08:34 PM
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Nigeria's Sunday Oliseh fired a rocket from 30 yards out for the game winning goal (AP) |
ATLANTA (CNN/SI) -- On a day when the Netherlands and Belgium met for the 120th time and Korean Ha Seok-ju became the first player to suffer the wrath of FIFA's new red card edict for tackles from behind, we'll start with the best match of the tournament -- Spain vs. Nigeria.
The Nigerians played with a flair and style uniquely their own in knocking off Spain 3-2, and firmly cemented themselves again among the five or six teams who truly have a chance to win the title.
Nigeria entered the match no longer the trendy favorite it had been in the months preceding the World Cup. No, its reputation had been dragged through the mud as a result of its poor play in friendlies preceding the World Cup.
Not only that, but the defense and goaltending had been absolutely shoddy. Starting goalkeeper Ike Shorunmu broke his right arm in April, and coach Bora Milutinovic has not been happy with any of his replacements in front of the net. His choice for the match with Spain, Peter Rufai, was nothing special in the net, yielding two goals.
But Bora may not need much from his defense if his offense is exciting the rest of the tournament as it was Saturday.
The Nigerians ran up and down the field with smiles on their faces, creating chances and attacking the goal. They were not offsides once all game, they simply used their superior speed on the wings to run past the Spanish defense.
The tying goal, while an unbelievable gaffe on Spanish goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta's part, was created when Garba Lawal took off down the left wing and was able to turn the corner and head to net. At that point he misfired on a cross 12 yards from the goal, but Zubizarreta got caught out of position and mistakenly knocked the ball in on his near-post side.
Five minutes later the Nigerians sent their fans and country into delirium when Sunday Oliseh half-volleyed home a rocket from 30 yards for the game-winning goal. The celebration is still occurring back home in Lagos, for the Super Eagles are indeed back.
It was a special moment where sport may well have lifted a country out of sadness. Nigeria has been in mourning since the death Monday of its leader -- Gen. Sani Abacha.
In fact, the new leader had sent a message to the World Cup squad asking it to make sure it did not let down the Nigerian people after everything else that had occurred this week. Wearing black armbands to remember Abacha, the Nigerians went above and beyond the call of duty and put themselves in the driver's seat in the "Group of Death."
Spain, meanwhile, is left in the unenviable position of having to get points in games against Paraguay and Bulgaria just to get to the second round. Even worse for the Spaniards, as a result of the Paraguay-Bulgaria draw, they likely need two wins and six points to accomplish that task.
You had to know someone was going to get tripped up in this group, but coming into the tournament you would have gotten even money that it would end up being the slumping Nigerians.
As predicted in the last 91st Minute, the Netherlands-Belgium match was much closer than expected.
Yes, the Dutch had to finish the match with just 10 men after Patrick Kluivert foolishly picked up a red card with under 10 minutes to play, but chances are the game still would have ended in a scoreless draw. The Belgian defense was impressive all night, and the resulting draw has put Mexico into the top spot in Group E.
Mexico benefited from both the Belgium-Netherlands draw and from the new FIFA mandate on rough tackles, which saw Ha Seok-ju sent off just 30 minutes into the Mexico-South Korea match.
A few adjustments at halftime to get two more offensive midfielders on the field, and away the Mexicans went. They scored three goals in the second half, including two from blond-haired striker Luis Hernandez.
Player of the day: Luis Hernandez. The Mexican striker scored two goals in the second half for a squad that had been much maligned of late by its media.
After a serious of unsuccessful friendlies recently, the media in Mexico suggested that the team not even show up at France '98, lest they embarrass the nation.
But in much the same way Nigeria erased it's countrymen's fears with one game, so too did Mexico. And Hernandez was a major reason why.
Not only did he score, but he also energized his team. If Mexico is to have any chance of advancing to the second round, Hernandez will have to be just as good in his team's remaining games against Belgium and the Netherlands.
Goal of the Day: Sunday Oliseh. It looked like the goal of the tournament had been scored by Spain's Raul in the early minutes of the second half of the Nigeria-Spain game when he volleyed a cross out of the air from 12 yards out to put Spain up 2-1. But Oliseh one-upped him with the game-winner 31 minutes later.
From directly 30 yards out, Oliseh half-volleyed a low, hard shot to the left corner of the net that had the perfect power and placement. It will be a staple of highlight films for weeks to come, especially in Nigeria where the goal served as a ray of sunshine for a country in mourning.
Quote of the day: "Our team has worked harder than any other team to get here. It was difficult for us to reach this stage as an African country in turmoil and conflict, but we went out to achieve victory and we got it. We wanted to win for the 104 million Nigerian people back home. We deserved the result, and they deserve to enjoy it." - Sunday Oliseh, following Nigeria's 3-2 win over Spain.
Outlook for Sunday: The most intriguing match-up of the day appears to be Argentina vs. Japan.
Argentina is a dark-horse pick of many to make a run at the title, and Sunday would seem the perfect chance for the squad to put its wares on display. But the Japanese have molded a tough team that plays solid defense.
Japan will be playing its first game ever in the finals, and if it is not careful, it could get run over by offensive-minded Argentina, which has been rolling up plenty of goals in friendlies over the last month.
The pick here is Argentina 4-0, the same score it beat Greece by in its first match of the '94 World Cup.
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