Nigeria beat Bosnia 1-0 in 2014 Fifa World Cup

The teams showed early intentions as they forced errors from each other’s defences, creating chances at each end of the pitch. Nigeria sought to win the ball early in the attacking third, but they wasted the chances they created out of that pressing. The match was fast and produced a scoring goal in each of the first 10 minutes. The Africans got out of the midfield well but the final ball never worried the Europeans.

There was purpose and gusto in the Nigerian attacks as they settled down and forced the Bosnians to back paddle. They got the men behind the ball and pushed into attack in numbers upon winning possession. With a little composure, Nigeria could have been two goals up by the 20^th minute. Each wasted Nigeria chance encouraged the Bosnians who grew stronger in counter-attacking. Nigeria’s Musa could have put the match beyond the Europeans with better alertness and finishing.

In the push to get an opener, they got exposed on the wings, especially the right side where Emunike and Odemwinge found favours from their defenders. Odemwinge picked a ball in the defensive third and accelerated across the midfield third. Emunike received the ball and swept past a Bosnian who claimed a fouled. The Nigerian striker had tactical awareness to see Odemwinge’s continued run. He played a cut back that the Stoke striker took first time through advancing Begovic’s legs.

Emunike did well to slow down, take off at pace, round his man, attack the by-line and looked up before cutting the ball back. Peter also made a clever run and then hanged back a while waiting for that pass from the right. The defenders lost sight of him as they failed to keep a tight leash on him. The communication between the goalkeeper and the defence could have been better.

Edin Dzeko began to play away from the last men, preferring to come short around the D-zone. Nigeria failed to realise that and did not track him as he began to touch the ball more often, taking wild attempts at goal. Regardless, the Africans looked threatening with each attack and they tried to get the green wall behind the ball.

Bosnia Herzegovina upped the tempo a little and increase pressure on the ball to force errors. They got first to the ball and won the second ball while Nigeria were content to absorb the pressure. They could not utilise the ball possession. The African champions got stuck and failed to play out of midfield as they began to lose the ball without pressure and took a lot of time to retrieve it.  

Begovic made a lot of telling saves to deny Nigeria a handful of goals especially from Emunike who had a field day on the right. Victor Enyeama had to be at his level best to scoop the late Dzeko header from a corner kick. There was further drama as the Enyeama saved Dzeko shot by his legs. The ricochet crushed against the left upright. That ended a brilliant maiden campaign of the Europeans, but Nigeria deserved the victory as they managed the match well after scoring. They could have easily scored a few more goals, had they not sat back and be content with the odd goal.   

Nigeria, Iran draw 2014 Fifa World Cup match

Iran were very defensive in their approach, keeping the one point they started with very safe. They barricaded the centre line and camp beyond it, inviting Nigeria to take the initiative. The Super Eagles took control of the game with penetration on the left channel with Victor Moses and Mohamed Moussa. The enthusiastic Iranians could not cope with that pace, and their nervous goalkeeper got cover of the good marking outside the penalty area.

Nigeria won many midfield duels with their efficient interceptions and concentration. For their efforts, they failed to complement their possession with incisive play as they resorted to long passes and diagonal balls, to the comfort of their adversaries. They were very slow in entering the final third of the pitch hence their final pass was always predictable. The erratic shooting summed up the first half.

The only defensive test the Africans had to deal with was the corner-kick from the right. The marking was very poor as they allowed a free header by Reza. Victor Enyeama did well to parry the ball back into play. He was fortunate to pick up substitute, Joseph Yobo with that clearance as Iran were within range to capitalise as the ball was played straight into the traffic. Save for the good passing game in midfield, it was an overall poor performance, as Nigeria did not do much to trouble the goalkeeper who was never really tested. This gave Iran some confidence as they began to make some inroads in their attacks.

The Iranians had a front foot in early second half as they pressed up field. Nigeria responded by forcing consecutive corners which they fluffed. Despite the general increase in pace in attack after the introduction of Shola Ameobi, Nigerians began to lose concentration cheaply giving away the ball in dangerous positions and getting susceptible to counter-attacks.

It was extremely unbelievable how the Super Eagles gave away possession like Father Christmas. Iran reciprocated the gesture by failing to punish the sloppiness and loss of concentration. The pace in entering the final third dropped for Nigeria again, allowing Iran midfield and defence to regroup and re-organise. The level of anxiety increase as the time lapsed.  

Dejagah, who had a fantastic game, had a chance to open the scoring before being substituted. The Nigerian midfield then began to stay back leaving the attackers with no support. Failure to pick up the second ball encouraged Iran to fancy their chances. A goalless draw, the first of the tournament, favoured them as they kept the same point they started with. For the African champions, it was two points lost.