| Quarter-Finals
Feb 7, 1800h (GMT) Nigeria -
Senegal 2 : 1
This was the situation
before the match
Nwankwo Kanu: 'We have
the best quality individual players and overall the best team in Africa'
Mutiu Adepoju: 'We have
the commitment and passion to play, we have the skills and can achieve
our target once we set out to do it.'
Bonfrere (coach): 'Three
more matches and the African Cup is ours! I've always believed this team
is among the best in the world.' (Reuters)
Senegal is what you may
call a decent team. They are good on all levels. Not a top team but they
can beat anybody who is not fully concentrated and exposes to many weaknesses.
They are committed and now they are confident. And if they have heard the
Nigerians, they will smell their chance.
If Nigeria is full concentrated
it is hard to see they might lose to the outsiders. But if the quotes above
are representative, they already have won the cup in their heads while
Senegal has a real goal in front of their eyes.
Senegal will have had two
days more to focus on the match while Nigerians have to forget their joy
quickly. Maybe the three days rest is just the right length to keep concentrated
and refocus.
> How
the Super Eagles won the Nations Cup 1994
> a Senegal
preview at the Nigerian fanzine cybereagles.com
(there has to be added the
remark that Senegal is especially dangerous when having room for counter
attacks. most conspicious attackers have been rather the fast Henri Camara
in all matches and Abdoulaye Mbaye who emerged in the last group match
against Zambia)
Reuters:
Scorers: Nigeria - Julius
Aghahowa 84, 92
Senegal - Kalidou Fadiga
6
Attendance: 60,000
Halftime: 0-1; full time
1-1
Red card: Austin Okocha
(Nigeria)
Note: golden goal rule not
applied
Nigeria - 1-Ike Shorunmu;
2-Gbenga Okunowo (15-Sunday Oliseh, 80), 21-Godwin Okpara, 6-Taribo West,
3-Celestine Babayaro; 13-Tijani Babangida (17-Julius Aghahowa, 68), 8-Mutiu
Adepoju, 10-Austin Okocha, 7-Finidi George; 4-Nwankwo Kanu, 19-Benedict
Akwuegbu (14-Emmanuel Amunike, 62)
Senegal - 1-Oumar Diallo;
2-Omar Daf (8-Mbaye Badji, 70), 3-Omar Traore (6-Papa Daouda Sene, 67),
16-Cheikh Sidy Ba, 9-Assane Ndiaye; 4-Papa Malick Diop, 13-Ousmane Diop,
14-Moussa Ndiaye, 15-Pape Niokhor Fall; 7-Henri Camara, 10-Kalidou Fadiga
(21-Abdoulaye Mbaye, 105)
1st half:
-('3) Nigeria: great save
by the Senegalese keeper against a header by AKwuegbu?(Okocha?)
-('8) Senegal: Fadiga
stops a cross from the right with his chest and releases a low shot from
8 meters into the corner - 0:1
A Nigerian defender close
to the scorer, seems to have been Okunowo, had jumped at the wrong moment
for the ball and so put himself out of play and so provided the necessary
time
-('12) Nigeria: good fast
attack ends with Finidi low shot wide
-('14) two big opportunities
on both sides: Senegal have Nigeria outnumbered but only manage a quite
harmless shot, Babangida is dangerous in front of the Senegalese goal
-('15) Camara tries it alone,
his shot misses close
-('18) Kanu's attempt from
16 meters goes narrowly wide
-('19) Senegalese keeper
successfully claims cross ball
-('20) Nigerian player dribbles
on the left, hits outside of the net (Okocha?)
a few more Nigerian almost
chances, when balls get defended or intercepted at the right moment
-('25) Senegalese counter
attack by Henri Camara, but all alone he has to target the goal from a
difficult angle
-('27) Henri Camara, almost
the same scene, again from the right side
-('39) Camara shoots across
the bar on a counter attack this time involving more players
-('44) promising looking
Senegalese counter attack gets intercepted and converted into a Nigerian
answer stopped by the alerted Diallo in Senegalese goal
-('injury time) opportunity
for Nigeria by a good scene of Okunowo: a 1-2 with Okocha? and a sharp
distance shot which rushes wide - keeper had been in the corner
Halftime 0:1
Senegal has some dangerous
moments by their fast counter-attacks but they attack with no enough players.
Though they are defending successfully they are under tremnendous pressure.
And Nigeria still have their big play potential on the field, able to change
the way of the match within seconds. Senegal will have to look for more
opportunities and convert them as one goal should not be enough to win
the match.
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Maybe it will be possible
to have some impressions from matches that otherwise might have remained
uncovered. What do you think?
you want to know for
which club Kanu played 1996?
which shirt number he wore at Atlanta?
you wonder whether Chad has played any matches recently and who played
for them?
the author has just informed
me that the new African Yearbook
2000 is out now
2nd
half:
-('47) Kanu - great control
with a bunch of defenders around him he still manages to pass the ball
on, but the defence is to tight for a clear shot
-('53) huge opportunity
on acounter attack by Senegal: Camara runs down the right hand side and
shoots a low ball to the middle where Assane Ndiaye slides in and puts
the ball narrowly wide
-('55) Kanu gets stopped
short before the 16 meter line for a free kick: free kick in good position
for Nigeria, Okocha's ball touches the crossbar, goes acroos the goal
-('57) Kanu sets up a chance
for Akwuegbu, who from about 10 meters half left, unchallenged, unleashes
a shot well off target
-('59) Kanu and Okocha -
no goal, Okocha shoots wide, more power than accuracy
-('62) Amunike in for Akwuegbu
-('64) Okocha tests the
keeper Diallo from far, who has also problems on the following corner
-('67) Okocha again - this
time he fires from half left side inside the penalty, to the near goalpost
but wide again
-('67) Aghahowa in for Babayaro
- Nigeria start to take chances
-('68) Senegal: Camara on
a counter attempt, keeps the ball several seconds to wait for other players,
but then chance fades
-('70) Senegal: #8 El Hadji
Mbaye comes in for the exhausted Omar Daf
-('75) one of the Nigerian
corner brings some excitement, Oumar Diallo has to be treated for two minutes
are the Senegalese attackers
tired, timid, or are the Nigerians so dominant now? - there has been no
dangerous counter attack for 25 minutes
-('80) Sunday Oliseh who
has been ill with a malaria blow comes in (for Okunowo)
the pressure becomes
bigger, the match takes place in the Senegalese half
-('81) some unfriendly dsikussions
after an Amunike tackle from behind, for which Senegalese want some kind
of card (might have hit the ball as well)
-('84) Senegal: Henry Camara,
now most of the time alone in the attack has ahis first menacing appearance
in front of the Nigerian goal since almost 30 minutes: He ihas some room
but again a difficult angle from the right. Shorunmu saves.
-('85) ball into the
penalty area and Aghahowa scores from 8 meters from half left into the
near corner- 1:1
-('injury time) Nigeria
keeps pressuring
the referee does not
seem willing to give yellow cards for each bad looking foul as the match
gets more physical
-('injury time) a Senegalese
player tries to catch Shoronmu by a log range shot but it sails more than
5 meters wide
-('injury time) Kanu provides
the ball to the right side where Finidi waits to fire from the corner of
the penalty area, but Diallo saves the shot, that might have gone wide
anyway, for a corner
-no decision, extra-time
will have to decide
after 90 minutes: 1:1
Senegal probably made a
mistake in playing too defensive instead of trying to exploit the problems
the Nigerian defence had with their fast counter attacks. Now Nigeria is
big in the match again. Senegal still has strikers on the bench and is
not counted out yet. Though the danger is there that they might go for
the penalties. But this will leave them pinned with the backs to the wall.
The momentum is on the side of Nigeria now. Extra-time will decide (or
penalty shoot-out).
extra-time, 1st half:
-('92) Ball is brought
in from the left wing, a defender misses it and Aghahowa matches to control
it somehow and shoot it into the net from 4 meters - 2:1
-the crowd has invaded the
pitch, maybe they do not know: this is no golden goal! (it is a
normal extra-time to be played 2x15 minutes)
-the match is still interrupted
-('95) a fast Nigerian counter
attack - a bit too fast
-('104) after more than
11 minutes the match can continue
I adjust the clock, that
it does not look so confusing:
-('93) after more than 11
minutes the match can continue
-('102) Senegal: first opportunity
for #21 A.Mbaye, who has come in, he misses a crossball for what could
have been a dangerous header
Nigeria still dominates,
but Senegal answer now
-('104) Okocha brilliant
again as he initiates another attack (which goes by without harm after
a Finidi cross)
-halftime of extra-time
extra-time, 2nd half:
-('106) Senegalese argue
with the referee at halftime who rewards the captain Diop with a yellow
card
-('110) A.Mbaye header wide
-Camara is exhausted and
Amunike is stopped
-('113) Senegal still is
able to create opportunities
-('114) chance for Amunike,
set up by Aghahowa, ball goes far across the bar - the outcming keeper
has iriitated Amunike
-('116) Nigeria: free-kick
from the left brings some danger
Before this free kick is
where the trouble with Okocha and Badji seems to starts, who refuses to
keep distance.
-('117) emotions go high,
involving Okocha, the Senegalese captain Diop and a Senegalese player which
seems to have been struck down by Okocha away from the ball. It is Badji
who had some kind of quarrel with Okocha, who eventually has hit him somehow
with the arm or elbow, unclear how seriously
-('118)
Okocha, who is known as a very fair player but might have lost composure
here, gets a red card, leaves the field furious, shakes hand with Badji
but applauds ironically to either the Sengalese captain who had lobbied
for the red card or the assistant or fourth referee who must have seen
the incident as the referee himself did not look like so..
-('injury time) Shoronmu
successfuly claims a cross
final result 2:1 a.e.t.
A match that had everything
football is all about. Would Nigeria have won without the homefield advantage?
But it was a powerful force who turned it around against a dangerous Senegalese
team who played a bit too conservative. What a pity that Okocha, who motored
the comeback (with Kanu and Finidi), is now out for the cruical semi-final
against the all strong South Africans.
Senegal has more and more
emerged as a great team during the tournament. They can return home proud. |
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