An unimpressive Flying Eagles side was well beaten by Team USA in Bielsko-Biala on Monday night, meaning they must earn a result against table –toppers Ukraine on Thursday to be sure of a place in the Round of 16.
Looking already good for the knockout stages following a commanding 4-0
win over Qatar in Tychy on Friday, the two –time runners –up were taken to the
cleaners by a smooth –playing American side that was vastly superior in pace,
technical hue, all –round play, awareness, guile and marksmanship.
Having beaten Qatar easily, the Flying Eagles were expected to find their
range against USA and get their two feet into the knockout rounds. But that
looked a mountain to climb right from kick –off as the nifty Sebastian Soto,
who scored both goals, combined well with Alex Mendez and Timothy Weah to rip
through the Nigerian defence at will.
Soto came close to getting the first goal after only nine minutes, but
missed with goalkeeper Olawale Oremade beaten. In another nine minutes, he got
it right, as he was strangely allowed a free header from a corner inside a box
that had about eight Nigerian players.
It would have been two-nil three minutes later but Oremade charged out
Weah’s close-range shot. Nine minutes later, it should have been that exact
scoreline but the ever-dangerous Soto was ruled offside after rifling into the
net, as four Nigerian defenders made a complete hash of clearing the ball from a
corner kick.
In the closing stages of the first half, Aniekeme Okon’s fierce shot was
palmed away by goalkeeper Brad Scott, but right from the recess, the
threatening 2-0 score on the board became a reality as Soto, again, ran
cleverly behind a stiff Nigerian rearguard to snap the ball past Oremade.
Even as they improved in the second period, the Flying Eagles failed to
show any attacking fluency or clinical efficiency, and it was rather the
Americans who put on display excellent footwork and and cohesion now and again
to threaten at will.
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