Nigeria/South Africa: Eagles Shut Bafana Bafana Out of Nations Cup
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Vanguard (Lagos)
7 September 2008
Posted to the web 7 September 2008
Patrick Omorodion
The EPRU Stadium in Port Elizabeth which the South Africans intended as a slaughter house for the Super Eagles yesterday turned into a party ground for Coach Shaibu Amodu and his boys as they virtually shut out Bafana Bafana from the 2010 African Nations Cup with a lone goal victory.
Bafana Bafana's Brazilian tactician, Joel Santana had declared total 'war' against the Eagles in a match they needed an outright win to keep hope for Angola 2010 alive and the rainbow country's football authority, SAFA had chosen the bumpy EPRU Stadium pitch hoping the Eagles will find it unsuitable for their free flowing game.
The home side had also celebrated the non arrival of four key Eagles, skipper Nwankwo Kanu, Joseph Yobo, Obafemi Martins and John Mikel Obi but even with the fringe players available for Amodu, the South Africans never proved a threat to the Nigerian side who recorded their first victory against Bafana Bafana on home soil and maintained their unbeaten record in competitive ties involving both sides.
Before a capacity crowd, the homers, playing a Christmas tree formation with Premiership ace Benni McCarthy as pivot, had began with early incursions in the Eagles rear but the 'big' defender, Danny Shittu punctured their every move with Marseille ace, Taye Taiwo and Obinna Nwaneri equally providing cover for Dele Aiyenugba who was tested with some shots, most of which however went wide off mark.
Desperate to get on the score sheet, Bafana Bafana created several scorable chances with Kagiso Dikgacoi rampaging the Eagles defence and unleashing several shots which agile Aiyenugba however blocked. Poor finishing from McCarthy and Siyabonga Nkosi also did them in as the anxious crowd became edgy on their seats.
The Eagles had very few chances while soaking the pressure and keeping the score 0-0 at half time. On resumption, Amodu made some changes which pepped up the Eagles attack and on 70th minute, Ikechukwu Uche seized a rare opportunity, swerving two defenders to sneak in the vital goal that made all the difference.
The result gave the Eagles a 100 percent record in the qualifiers with 15 points and no goal against and seven goals scored.
Meanwhile Sierra Leone playing in Freetown pipped Equatorial Guinea 1-0 to move into second position with seven points and will have a last game against the Eagles next month while travel to Malabo to confront the Equatorial Guineans in a match that could just be academic because even if they win to end on seven points like Sierra Leone, the West Africans will remain second on the strength of head-to-head, having drawn 0-0 in Johannesburg and beaten Bafana Bafana 1-0 in Freetown.
In other matches, Libya Friday pipped Ghana 1-0 to lead Group 5 with 12 points while the Black Stars come second with 9 points, Kenya beat Namibia 1-0 in Group 2 with 10 points, as Mauritius fell 1-4 at home to Tanzania.
Relevant Links
Algeria beat Senegal 3-2 in Group 6 to lead with 9 points while Senegal follow with eight while Seychelles lost 1-2 to Burundi as Malawi mauled Djibouti 3-0 at their backyard to now share group 12 top spot with DR Congo who have a match on hand on 9 points.
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Copyright © 2008 Vanguard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
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