Kickoff (Cape Town)
10 August 2008
Nigeria have given the country a lift as they deservedly defeated Japan 2-1 at the 2008 Beijing Olympics to stay on course for the knock-out stages of the tournament.
Goals from Obinna Nsofor and Victor Anichebe sealed the win for Samson Siasia's side, which leaves them on four points following their 0-0 draw with Holland in their first game.
Blow-by-blow Match Report:
1 mins: Japan get us officially underway, playing from right to left in the white tops and blue shorts while Nigeria are in all green.
Japan quickly get into the box and try a shot which is easily handled by the Nigeria defence.
3 mins: Obinna Nsofor uses some burning pace to get away down the left side, only to be crowded out just when he looked to be free.
4 mins: Ouch! Hard fall by Nsofor and he stays down, as the Japanese try a shot that skims wide.
5 mins: Fine, pacey get-away by Michihiro Yasuda against Olubayo and he delivers the cross too. Hiroyuki Taniguchi hits it wide under pressure from Apam.
8 mins: Japan work their way into the right wing area but Uchida is easily dispossessed by Chibuzor Okonkwo. Nigeria break with the ball but lose it almost instantly and Uchida comes right back with Okonkwo stranded upfield. Delivers a cross that Apam cuts out for a corner-kick.
9 mins: Great chance from Japan, who have Nigeria on the ropes in the last couple of minutes. A deep cross comes sailing in and Vanzekin has to stretch to turn it away from two arriving defenders.
12 mins: Composed defending by Dele Adeleye to keep away Taniguchi, who was looking to latch on to a long ball from deep.
13 mins: Good freekick by Olubayo and headed on target by Ajilore. Its straight at the keeper though.
14 mins: Skipper promise Isaac breaks away down the right wing, but he fails to keep control of the ball and goes down. No free-kick.
15 mins: YELLOW CARD. Great move by Nigeria. Chibuzor Okonkwo races into the box and goes down under a challenge. But replays show there was no contact and he is rightfully booked by the ref
18 mins: Nigeria try to work the ball behind the Japanese defence. The defending is tight and disciplined and Promise is offside as the final ball comes to him.
20 mins: Its Nigeria creating chances by the seconds here. Odemwingie and Promise combine, but as Osaze drops in the low cross, Promise just misses it and it is cleared short. The ball comes back with intent into the Japanese area and bounces around before falling to Olubayo outside the box who tries a long-range effort straight at the goalie.
22 mins: Good free-kick delivered by Okoronkwo to the far post. Odemwingie keeps it in and it just falls behind Nsofor and cleared away for a throw-in.
There was a second ball on the pitch around Nigeria's left back position but play goes on. I think the assistant referee came in to get it out.
25 mins: Probing run by Okoronkwo and he finds Odemwingie on the right wing, but fails to make the run for the return pass and the attack fizzles.
27 mins: Nsofor wins a free-kick in what should have been Taye Taiwo territory. Its Taiwo's replacement Chibuzor who takes it and that wasn't half bad! Just swings wide of the right upright.
28 mins: Nsofor skins Atsudo Uchida for pace down the left wing and delivers a fine cross that sees Odemwingie and Promise crashing into two defenders, and each other. Ball is cleared.
29 mins: WHAT A MISS! Ohh, and Odemwingie knows it. Fantastic work from Promise to drive down the right side and a short pass finds Okoronkwo who gets past his man with a deft touch and calmly takes his time before laying a cutback to the Lokomotiv man. But he blasts high and over from all of 3 yards!
31 mins: Promise and Okoronkwo seem too have found some kind of telepathy down that right side. They combine again but Promise crosses the ball into the goalie's hands.
32 mins: And now its Japan who miss. Although the credit must go to Vanzekin. Yasuda beats Olubayo down the wide area and delivers a fine low cross into the area to Taniguchi, but Vanzekin goes down quickly to smother the ball. Now that was a chance and a half.
35 mins: Keisuke Honda takes a long range free-kick. Vanzekin doesn't even bother as it sails well over the top.
36 mins: Nsofor does good work down the left hand side and works the ball to Promise who lays it back for the arriving Kaita to flash. The ball just goes over and settles behind the net.
Even the commentator thought it was a goal. So did I.
41 mins: Japan enjoy a spell of sustained possession with some good precision passing moves. Got nowhere though. Nigeria guilty of giving away possession when they get it as we approach the dying minutes of the first half.
44 mins: Good cross from Uchida but its behind everyone, including his team mate. That could have gone anyway.
45 mins: More good work by Nigeria down the left side. Odemwingie gets past one man and finds the overlapping Okonkwo. His cross is headed wide by Promise.
45 mins: Its just not happening for Nigeria. Nsofor breaks down the left again, but his delivery is way too heavy and Promise can't get there.
That was the final action of the first period, and its 0-0 at the break.
Nigeria have definitely been in charge of this one, creating the better chances of the two including THAT miss by Odemwingie. Once again, finishing is the Achilles heel of Dream team IV, although one gets the feeling that once the first one goes in, the rest will come.
Teams are back on the pitch now and huddled together. We are set to go
46 mins: And there we go. Nigeria from right to left this time.
47 mins: Promise wins a free-kick 40 yards out. Okoronkwo hits a rocket at Yasuda. That would have been painful.
48 mins: Nsofor twists and turns around three Japanese layers and wins a freekick. Well, well, well. This Okonkwo kid can hit 'em. There's power and a pace in this delivery but the distance takes a bit of the sting out of it.
Olubayo seems to have gone out for some reason.
50 mins: Good ball into the box by Japan, headed out by Adeleye.
Good break by Nsofor and he finds Okoronkwo with a raking pass down the right side. The Hertha Berlin man twists and turns only to deliver a poor cross.
52 mins: Uchida delivers a lovely ball to the far post and with Taniguchi waiting, Kaita just gets ahead on it to take it away. That was dangerous.
They are back again. Kagawa nutmegs Apam and tries to beat Vanzekin on his near corner, but the ball hits the goalie and goes out for a corner-kick. Cleared on delivery.
57 mins: YELLOW CARD. Hajime Hosogai pulls back Isaac Promise as he breaks forward and gets a booking for his troubles. Pdemwingie delivers a poor freekick into the box. He hasnt had the best of days.
58 mins: GOAL! Nigeria 1-0 Japan. Obinna Nsofor scores and what a classic piece it is.
Okoronkwo breaks down the right had side and a little Cristiano Ronaldoesque shimmy loses his marker and finds Isaac Promise, who touches it to Osaze and the Lokomotive man in turn just lays it for Nsofor. The Chievo Verona man curls it one time past the sprawling Japan keeper. Classic team goal.
Nsofor celebrates with some somersaults.
61 mins: Brilliant goalkeeping by Vanzekin. A goalmouth melee gives Honda a sniff of goal and he tries a low kick over his head, but Vanzekin throws his body forward to block the shot and Adeleye does the rest of the sanitation. YELLOW CARD. Adefemi Olubayo will miss thenext game after getting booked in an off the ball incident following that melee.
62 mins: NIGERIA SUBSTITUTION: Odemwingie goes off for Victor Anichebe.
64 mins: Japan make two substitutions. Kagawa is off and his place is taken by Shinji Okazaki. Tadanari Lee also goes off for Yohei Toyoda.
66 mins: Honda's long range shot is gathered by Vanzekin. The Japanese are determined to get a goal and have been pushing forward with intent.
67 mins: Ajilore concedes a free-kick in a dangerous area. Ref just tells Uchida to play by the whistle. No problems for Vanzekin.
71 mins: Anichebe fouled twice in the space of 30 seconds by Morishige and is livid at his team mates for failing to give him support.
Good chance by Nigeria. Okoronkwo works the ball down the right and plays a neat ball to Promise who finds Nsofor. The spectacular overhead kick is miscued.
73 mins: Good break by Nigeria and Promise finds himself free, with one defender onhim. Lets the shot go under pressure but it is wide.
74 mins: That was the last kick of the game for Promise, as he is replaced by Chinedu Obasi.
75 mins: GOAL!! Nigeria 2-0 Japan. A Japan attack breaks down and Nigeria race off down the left hand side, Nsofor crosses the ball and Anichebe controls with an exquisite touch then blasts it past the keeper. Relief for Siasia and about 140 million Nigerians.
76 mins: Nsofor takes a poor free-kick high and wide of the post. It will be his last contribution as Siasia takes him off for Emmanuel Ekpo.
80 mins: GOAL! Nigeria 2-1 Japan. They pull one back. Toyoda finds himself free in the centre and buries the ball past Vanzekin. This will be a tense last ten minutes.
83 mins: Japan get a shot on target, but Vanzekin was well behind it.
Nigeria break again, with Anichebe, who holds off his marker despite having his shirt tugged. He finds Obasi, whose shot is tipped wide by the goalkeeper for a corner kick.
85 mins: YELLOW CARD. Takuya Honda has been booked, and like Olubayo, will miss the next game.
87 mins: The rain is pouring down now, and the players are slipping all over the pitch while the ball is skidding. Nightmarish conditions for goalkeepers. It will be even worse for the next set of teams that come on.
89 mins: Nigeria giving possession away far too easily. YELLOW CARD. Apam booked for dissent and he will miss the final group game against the USA.
90 mins: There will be three minutes of additional time.
From a throw-in, the ball breaks to Emmanuel Ekpo on the edge of the box and as he shapes up for something, his standing left leg just slips on the turf and the Japanese come away with the ball.
92 mins: Toyoda almost gets a second for himself and his team as the ball bubbles around the Nigeria area. But he cant get it away and the Nigeria defence clear.
And break quickly down the right side, but Ogbuke's cross is behind Anichebe.
93 mins: FULL TIME. And its Nigeria beating Japan again after their last victory in 1996.
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2008 Kickoff. 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.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
congratulations Nigeria dream team under Samson Siasia as a coach for defeating Japan. thank God for that three point. the team have the physical strenght but they are 65% selfish in field of play, especialy among the attackers/strikers.
Siasia must make them understand that we are not interested on the goal scorer but on the person who created the chance. goal scorer is decided by God but scoring chaces is created by us[man]
Play as a team[no selfish display] and the goal scorer will eventualy surface. stop struggling to be the goal scorer. we have seen couple of times where player is just facing the net without goal keeper he still blow the ball over the bar. that tell you is not for you to decide.
But laying good passes and sporting your team mate good position is for you[player] to decide.