Guardian Obuh promises changes, as Flying Eagles scrap into second round THURSDAY, 27 JUNE 2013 00:00 EDITOR SPORT - HOME FLYING Eagles’ Coach, John Obu is not satisfied with the quality of football played by his lad’s despite Nigeria’s 1-0 defeat of South Korea on Thursday at the on-going Turkey 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup. And he has promised to work on the team before the next game. Speaking during the post match conference, Obuh said, “we are gradually finding our rhythm, but we still have a lot of work to do. We will have to work on our strikers because we cannot afford to continue missing chances in a competition of this magnitude. “But I am happy with the general performance of this team.” Kayode scored Nigeria’s goal inside 10 minutes and held on till the end of the game to join Portugal in the round of 16. South Korea still has a chance of making the second round as one of the best third-placed teams. The Colombia 2011 star evaded the Korean defenders to nod in Captain Abdul Ajagun’s in-swinging free-kick from the left past Lee Changguen. Korea’s marking at set-pieces was leaving a lot to be desired, with the 16-year-old Onyinye Ndidi rising above all in red to head just wide. The Flying Eagles were in complete control of the early exchanges, with Kayode almost doubling his tally from a tight angle after a fine ball from Olaitan Michael. His next chance would have been a candidate for goal of the tournament. Song Juhun forced the Heartland FC forward wide after a high ball, but from the right side of the penalty area, Kayode hooked the ball back and was agonisingly close to scoring a superb lob. The Koreans were lacking the rhythm that had so impressed against Portugal, with that disjointed nature continuing into the second period, while Nigeria were producing some fine flowing football at times. Even so, Korea Republic saw plenty more of the ball in the second-half but they were leaving themselves open to counter-attacks. Ajagun was given an open sight of goal of on the break, but a heavy touch saw his eventual shot charged down. There was plenty of energy on show, but invention was largely lacking. As such, Nigeria were happy to try to limit chances as best possible and hold on to a result that sees them qualify, playing the second-place side from Group F. Korea Republic, on the other hand, have an anxious wait. Nigeria join Portugal, who secured top spot in Group B with a resounding 5-0 victory over Cuba at Kayseri’s Kadir Has Stadium. Bruma was once again on song, scoring twice to take an outright lead in the FIFA U-20 World Cup scoring chart with five overall, while Ricardo, Aladje and Toze also among the goals. The deadlock was broken in 15 minutes when good foraging work on the left by Bruma led to the ball falling loose to Ricardo, who passed his shot low and hard beyond Sandy Sanchez. Bruma was again involved eight minutes before the interval when Portugal doubled their lead, breaking into the box and teeing up the unmarked Aladje for the simplest of finishes. His reward for such unselfishness was to come just five minutes later, when Toze burst through in the right channel, made his way to the byline and threaded the ball across for the team’s star forward to convert from all of a yard. It was all too easy for Portugal at this stage and, having already claimed a goal and two assists, Bruma took his tally for the tournament to five 16 minutes into the second half with an acrobatic close-range volley. And while the hat-trick didn’t arrive, the Sporting striker did see his team complete the rout with a fifth goal, slotted home first time by Toze from Ricardo’s well-weighted pass. Portugal, in securing top spot, earned the right to stay in Kayseri for their last 16 tie, in which they will play one of the best third-placed sides
Posted on: Fri, 28 Jun 2013 08:31:48 +0000
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