Nigeria Finally Goes Home From South Africa 2010

Pin It Now! The Super Eagles of Nigeria failed to fly high against the South Koreans this evening in their last group B match. They were only able to manage a 2-2 draw against the Asians thereby going back home with only a point from three matches.

Kalu Uche connected Chidi Odiah’s cross for Nigeria’s first goal in the 11th minute. In the 21st minute, the Super Eagles got a free kick, which was taken by Kalu Uche, but rolled across the goal line for a goal kick. In the 23rd minute, Chinedu Obasi Ogbuke lost a chance to make it goal number 2 for Nigeria, when he shot weakly into the waiting hands of the Korean goal keeper.

In the 29th minute, Vincent Enyeama received a yellow card for an infringement against a Korean attacker by the edge of the 18 yard box. Kalu Uche’s terrific shot beat the Korean goal keeper flat, but hit the upright in the 36th minute.

In the 40th minute, Lee Jung Soo equalized for the South Koreans. Nigeria’s Yusuf Ayila received a yellow card in the 42nd minute, while Joseph Yobo got substituted for Elderly Echiejile in the 45th minute. 46th minute saw Park Chuyoung taking the lead for the Asians, through a free kick that beat goal keeper Vincent Enyeama hands down. In the 54th minute, it was Chuyoung again who almost made it 3 for South Korea.

Yakubu Aiyegbeni should take the bulk of the blame for the Super Eagles’ failure to capitalize on Argentina’s victory over Greece to at least beat the Koreans. He wasted chances that were begging to be converted in the 63rd and 65th minutes respectively.

Chinedu Obasi Ogbuke was brought down in the 18 yard box for a penalty in the 68th minute. The resultant penalty was neatly converted by Yakubu Aiyegbeni for Nigeria’s equalizer. He was immediately replaced by Victor Obinna Nsofor after a poor performance. Yakubu actually looked too heavy to be a striker; his impact was not really felt throughout the group’s three matches.

In the 76th minute, Ji Sung Park’s shot hit the side of the net for a goal kick for the West African team; while in the 76th minute Obafemi Akinwumi Martins lost yet another golden opportunity to put Nigeria ahead. He selfishly refused to pass the ball to Obinna Nsofor who was in a better position to score. The ball rolled across the goal line after the goal keeper was successfully displaced.

On the dot of 90 minutes, Obinna Nsofor’s shot could not hit target; it sailed across the goal line again. It looked like mother luck refused to shine on the Super Eagles this time around, having qualified for the world cup by luck. The exit of the Nigerian team was a product of poor preparation and inconsistency of the coaching crew. It would be recalled that the Eagles’ coach came to take over the team barely two months to the tournament. I hope the country would learn a lesson from their fire brigade approach to preparation, and prepare earlier for subsequent tournaments. South Korea qualified alongside Argentina, who also defeated Greece by 2-0. Argentina topped the group with maximum 9 points, followed by South Korea, Greece and Nigeria with 4, 3 and 1 points respectively.

Nigeria Finally Goes Home From South Africa 2010