Nigeria V Bosnia and Herzegovina World Cup 2014

Nigeria V Bosnia and Herzegovina Fifa World Cup 2014

After match synopsis in red!!

Beers: Group F of Beer World Cup: http://thisdrinkinglife.com/world-cup-beer-group-f/

Who is set to win the battle of the beers? Guinness Export V ? I finally managed to get a beer for Nigeria. Now not quite 100% Nigerian but its what they drink in Nigeria so it will do. Unfortunately I couldn’t source any beer from the Bosnia and Hertz so this will be a one sided affair. Click on picture for a preview of the beer.

Win for Guinness Export as I couldn’t source a beer from Bosnia. Click on link below for full beer information and reviews

PreGame:

Nigeria: Their performance in the first game was woeful stuff. Nigeria should be easily beating a team like Iran. They should have used their pace and strength to cause Iran all sorts of problems. But they didn’t. It was all too slow, the passing was sideways and not incisive, no real pace was injected into the game, and a serious lack of urgency on the part of the not so super eagles. Nigeria had no desire, no heart and no team. Lazy.

Hopefully they will be more up for the game tonight. Iran looked solid against Argentina so maybe just maybe we should give Nigeria a teeny bit of credit, not too much though!

Bosnia will be another tough team to crack, but maybe the Ghanaian match where their fellow African’s brought the game to the Germans can give some hope to the Nigerians just to attack the Bosnian’s from the start and go for the three points.

Bosnia and Hertz:

Bosnia were a tough team for Argentina to get first up. They were hard to break down and for long periods it was Bosnia that looked the slightly better team in this game, without doing a whole lot either.

Bosnia, a good unit without anyone in particular catching the eye. If they lose tonight they go out of the tournament so I would imagine they will play it cagey enough, and try and snatch a goal from a break or a set piece. Edin Dzeko is the key, if he plays to his strengths, then Bosnia win.

A more detailed review on Nigeria here and on Bosnia and Hertz here

Good end to end game, winner takes all battle. Well done Nigeria, it now looks like you have done enough to get into the second round.

Emmanuel Emenike was great, a powerhouse of a player who caused Emir Spahic all sorts of problems on the right wing. It was Emenike who found a away past the luckless Bosnian defender to pass to Odemwingie, whose shot hit the net in what proved to be the only goal of the game. I don’t think the confrontation leading up to the play was a foul. Both players went shoulder to shoulder and the Nigerians upper body strength was too much for poor old Spahic. The two opposing players were constantly battling throughout, with Emenike coming out victorious in most of these duels. Nigeria were pretty physical all the same though. I can imagine the Bosnian players had a few knocks and bruises after this encounter.

I guess, though, the Bosnian’s can feel a little aggrieved about the disallowed goal from Edin Dzeko, who put the ball in the net only to see it be called off for offside. Replays proved it was clearly onside at the time. Another bad offside call in this World Cup. Fifa introduced goal line technology, but I wonder is there anything to be done with narrow offside decisions.

But the Bosnians still had most of the game to play, and overall I don’t think they deserved to go through. Edin Dzeko and co simply didn’t do enough in the two games I saw to warrant progression in the competition. Nigeria had more hunger in this game, and that’s what ultimately won it for them in the end.

With seconds of injury time remaining, Dzeko scuffed a shot which Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama somehow deflected onto the post and away to safety. Unlucky. Vincent Enyeama had a good game as well, pulling off a few confident saves and a good leader at the back. Impressive.

Up next, Bosnia have to play Iran, in a game where they will want to sign off with a win. Iran will be tough to break down but in this game they might have to be a little more adventurous as a draw is no good to them. Iran need to win to have any chance of qualifying for the next round. This open play might suit Bosnia. Can see Edin Dzeko getting on the score sheet.

Nigeria have the tough game with Argentinian to look forward too. If they can contain Messi they can get a result. And if they attack high up the pitch they can score. All they need is a draw, but if they are a little adventurous they could even snatch a win, why not!

Music to get you in the mood

Skroz V Femi Kuti