Posted by 9jabook.com on October 27, 2009 at 10:41pm
The Golden Eaglets improved their chances of making it to the knockout rounds of the FIFA U-17 World Cup when they defeated Honduras 1-0 last night at the National Stadium in Abuja. And with Germany losing to Argentina, all the Nigerians now need to advance to the last-16 is a draw against the Argentines on Friday at the Tafawa Balewa Stadium, Bauchi.
The game’s only goal arrived after 53 minutes, courtesy of Abdul Ajagun, whose curling effort proved more than a handful for Honduran goalkeeper, Harold Fonseca.
The Golden Eaglets could, however, have shot into the lead much earlier in the 16th minute through Edafe Egbedi but the forward opted for power over precision and shot straight at Fonseca when he had so much space to aim at.
The Eaglets continued to dictate the pace of the game but Eugenio Umanzor’s side remained resolute in the defence, but they had Fonseca to thank for keeping the score line even, especially in the 41st minute when he was well placed to stop a rasping drive from Eaglets captain, Fortune Chukwudi.
Half time
After the half-time break, the Hondurans took the game to the Nigerians and could have gone ahead in the 50th minute but for the outstretched arm of Eaglets goalkeeper, Dami Paul, which kept out the goal-bound shot of Antony Lozano.
But two minutes later, Stanley Okoro, who was booked a minute earlier for simulation, failed to get his header on target with only the goalkeeper to beat. His miss was soon forgotten though as Ajagun, seconds later, shot the Eaglets into the lead from the edge of the box.
Honduran captain, Lozano, kept proving more than a handful for the Eaglets’ backline with his close control and sublime skills but in the end it wasn’t enough to salvage any point for the Central Americans who could still finish a respectable third in Group A if they can get a win over Germany on Friday.
Supreme Argentines
Earlier in the day, a pair of goals after many minutes saw Argentina storm back from a goal down to beat Germany also at the National Stadium in Abuja; a result that guarantees the South Americans a place in the round of 16 even before Friday’s match against the Flying Eagles.
The Germans, just as they did in their opening match against the Flying Eagles, shot into the lead after only eight minutes through Mario Goetze, who nodded the ball past Argentina’s goalkeeper, Damian Martinez, from a free kick for his second goal in many games.
And it could have been worse for the South Americans in the first half had Shkodran Mustafi, who scored in the game against Nigeria, not made a mess of a free header from an inch-perfect corner kick.
Argentina, however, started the second half with renewed strength and, in the 56th minute, Mustafi hauled down Daniel Villalva in the box. From the resultant penalty kick, captain Esteban Espindola stepped up to equalise. Then straight from the kick-off, a horrid German pass back allowed Sergio Araujo to steal in and give Argentina the lead.
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