Tipped as one of the favourites for the tournament, the Flying Eagles have had a topsy turvey tournament losing 2-4 to Brazil in their opening game but then beat North Korea 4-0 in their second match and then defeated Hungary 2-0 in their last group match. This set up a crunch game against free-scoring Germany, who topped their group and at the just concluded game, the Germans managed to squeeze through to the quarter finals.
Levin Oztunali’s first half goal was enough to take Germany through to the last eight as the Flying Eagles could not be faulted for effort but their inability to create meaningful chances proved to be their undoing. Prior to the game, it was expected that Germany would attempt to build their attacks by retaining the ball, with Nigeria utilising the counter-attack and that manifested itself during the opening 45 minutes.
Yet for all of the Europeans’ possession, the first real chance of the game came from a set piece as Marc Stendera’s corner from the right was looking for Stark but Onyinye Ndidi’s attempted clearance spun narrowly wide of the near post. The Flying Eagles were looking for opportunity to break and found one shortly after the quarter-hour when Taiwo Awoniyi broke down the right and delivered a low cross into the box which Saviour Godwin almost reached.
On 19 minutes, however, Germany took the lead as Stendera’s pressure on Kingsley Sokari led to him stealing the ball just outside the penalty area. He found Levin Oztunali at the edge of the box and the grandson of the legendary Uwe Seeler fired a powerful left-footed shot home.
After that, Germany could have and probably should have doubled their advantage later in the half when a cross from their captain Kevin Akpoguma found Hany Mukhtar lurking on the penalty spot but the ball came off his shoulder and Joshua Enaholo was able to save comfortably. Stendera was at the heart of things for Germany yet again when the second half commenced.
Germany withdrew goalscorer Stendera and Julian Brant midway through the second half and the changes seemed to have more of a positive effect on the Flying Eagles. Germany soon found themselves camped in their own half, with Success Isaac leading the charge forward, although their goalkeeper Marvin Schwabe was not really forced into a save.
As the game wore on, the Flying Eagles were not helped by some poor delivery from set pieces. Ultimately, the Germans hung on to book a quarter-final clash with Mali and remain in Christchurch, while Nigeria heads home.
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