It looks like we have some hope come Japan/Korea '02.
World-Aghahowa double propels Nigeria to win over Scots
ABERDEEN, Scotland (Reuters) - Forward Julius Aghahowa twice showcased his spectacular goalscoring celebrations when he helped Nigeria come from behind to beat Scotland 2-1 in a World Cup warm-up game.
A headed goal from Christian Dailly after seven minutes gave Scotland coach Berti Vogts a dream start in his second game in charge and his first on home soil.
But it did not take Nigeria long to find their stride and Aghahowa struck an equaliser in the 41st minute before the 70th-minute winner. On both occasions the player celebrated with somersaults.
Nigeria, with the experienced Jay Jay Okacha and Nwankwo Kanu directing play from deep, were well worth the victory and showed their rapid improvement under coach Festus Onigbinde.
The Super Eagles face England, Argentina and Sweden in group F of this year's World Cup finals in South Korea and Japan which begin on May 31.
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Coach buoyant despite defeat Stephen Halliday THE defeat by Nigeria last night, coming hard on the heels of the 5-0 drubbing by France, is an unlikely scenario from which to take encouragement, but that was exactly the mood of Berti Vogts at Pittodrie.
As the Scotland coach reflected on his team’s 2-1 loss at the hands of Nigeria, he understandably chose to dwell on the positive aspects of a performance which at least went some way to healing the trauma suffered against France in Paris last month.
"Losing two games in a row is not a problem for me right now," said Vogts, "and I thought it was a great night for Scottish football. Only the result was disappointing, I was happy with the performance.
"All of the young players did so well, and we made just two mistakes and it cost us two goals. We had the chance in the first half to make it 2-0, and I think a draw would have been a fairer result."
Vogts was especially gratified at the increased zeal evident in his team’s approach to the match, having chided them for a lack of passion and commitment during the heavy loss in France. "They didn’t play it like a friendly match this time," he said, "and there was a lot of passion in the game from my players. Playing at home helped and the supporters were excellent for us."
Vogts picked out Celtic goalkeeper Rab Douglas, Aberdeen midfielder Kevin McNaughton and Dundee United striker Steven Thompson for special praise.
"Douglas is a very good goalkeeper and he played very well," said Vogts. "He had no chance with the goals. I thought McNaughton did well in his first game and Thompson works very hard for a striker.
"We are looking forward to better things now, and we have a lot of quality in the squad. We also have players like Barry Ferguson and Don Hutchison to come back from injury.
"The Euro 2004 qualifiers don’t start until September and we have four matches before then, one in Korea, two in Hong Kong and a game against Denmark in August so we have time to improve."
McNaughton, who delighted his home crowd with a performance full of energy, is hoping to use the close-season trip to the Far East to cement his place in Vogts’ starting line-up.
"I’ve got to keep working hard on my game, but, hopefully, I can establish myself in the team if I get the chance on the trip to Korea and Hong Kong," said the youngster.
"I really enjoyed my debut and I didn’t think we deserved to lose the game.
"We started really well and all of the boys were really up for it. We dominated the first half-hour. The only thing we lacked was a cutting edge in the final third.
"I enjoyed playing in midfield, I’m usually at right-back for Aberdeen, but the pace was a lot faster than it is in club football. I wasn’t really nervous about my debut and, apart from the result, I was delighted with it."
Christian Dailly, who claimed only his second international goal to give Scotland their early lead, echoed the positive mood coming from the squad last night.
The West Ham United defender said: "We played with a lot of aggression and passion, which was something the manager had spoken about, and I felt we played really well. We are just pretty sick to have lost the game.
"A draw was the least we deserved, but I think we showed tonight that it won’t be too long before we are beating teams like Nigeria. They maybe got used to our intensity as the match wore on, and it’s difficult to play like that for 90 minutes, but I think we can take a lot of good things from the game.
"All of the young lads did brilliantly and had no problems settling into the side. The passion was there from everyone and that’s important because it’s what good Scottish teams are famed for.
"Despite what happened in Paris, we didn’t come into this game short of confidence and it’s not all doom and gloom as far as we are concerned. There is definite progress being made."
Like the rest of the Scotland squad, Dailly’s thoughts last night were also with his former captain Colin Hendry, whose wife, Denise, is gravely ill in hospital. The Tartan Army sent their own goodwill message to one of their heroes at Pittodrie with several chants of ‘There’s only one Colin Hendry’.
"We are all thinking of him," said Dailly. "It’s a terrible thing and we wish him and his wife all the best. We just pray she pulls through."
Nigerian coach Adegboyega Onigbinde praised the Scottish performance and was satisfied with his own team’s display as their World Cup finals countdown begins in earnest.
"Scotland are a fast, youthful side," said Onigbinde, "and they played a lot of good football. It was a very good test for my team and I’m very happy with the victory.
"My target is to get a solid team for the World Cup and I believe beating Scotland will motivate my boys to get into very good shape before we play in the finals."
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Aghahowa double puts Scotland to the sword By Kevin McCarra Scotland 1 Nigeria 2
THE grimacing Scotland fans had to applaud the somersaults with which Julius Aghahowa celebrated his goals. Thanks to the forward, who plays for Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine, the match had also flipped, with Scotland’s lead overturned. The individual accomplishment of Nigeria gradually took its toll and Berti Vogts’s second outing as manager ended in another loss. Adegboye Onigbinde’s victorious side will not have rivals trembling, but there were sufficient signs of life, and ability, at Pittodrie to make England and Nigeria’s other World Cup rivals take them seriously.
Competitiveness is re-emerging, after the squabbles at the African Nations Cup and the subsequent upheaval. They were stung by Christian Dailly’s opening goal, a header from a corner in the seventh minute, when they could have allowed themselves to grow jaded. Nigeria will no longer regard the World Cup with foreboding.
A candid Jay-Jay Okocha, the playmaker, had stated beforehand that he had low expectations about the tournament, but Nigeria have long had a tendency to improvise, rather than prepare carefully, when a leading event is in the offing. Sometimes that approach is productive. At the very least, they leave their prospective opponents nonplussed.
England cannot have made any crucial discoveries about their prospective opponents when it is not even certain that this line-up will bear a close resemblance to the one they meet in Osaka on June 12. Perhaps Sunday Oliseh, Finidi George and Taribo West will have been reinstated by then. Perhaps Celestine Babayaro will be fit.
The identity of the manager should not change. This victory is a bulwark against the capriciousness of the Nigeria FA and Onigbinde, back in a post he has not held since 1984, could exude authority. “The target,” he said, “is to get a solid team by the World Cup. This result will motivate the boys to work harder and get into very good condition.”
Dealing with Sven-Göran Eriksson’s men will be a different proposition entirely, but Scotland, despite giving debuts to seven players over the course of the evening, flaunted a vivacity that stretched Nigeria. The visiting team reacted by displaying stability in defence and, more significantly, repelling Vogts’s men with the fluency of their play.
Aghahowa added pertinence to the assured build-up. His equaliser, in the 41st minute, was snatched after a muddle in the Scotland defence.
It was flair, however, that saw Nigeria prevail. Vogts had expected his men to win, but the error was not in his appraisal of his own squad so much as in his undervaluing of Nigeria.
Although they can be annoyingly haphazard, they do draw on a high degree of talent. Vogts tinkered during the match, without identifying anyone capable of nullifying Okocha. The Paris Saint-Germain player has the knack of altering a match and the Scots had to stomach a demonstration in the 69th minute, when his sumptuous 30-yard pass inside Stephen Crainey saw Pius Ikedia galloping on to cross and Aghahowa notched the winner with a header.
Scotland’s newcomers all looked at home for a while. Three of the starting line-up were winning their first cap and Robbie Stockdale, Gareth Williams and Kevin McNaughton have cause to be encouraged by their displays. Vogts, after the 5-0 rout by France, has at least made a worthwhile start to his real work.
Even so, it has to be noted that Rab Douglas, 29, was the most convincing debutant of all. The goalkeeper showed that he is a real rival to Neil Sullivan, but Vogts cannot have wished to see him quite so prominent.
How they lined up in Aberdeen
SCOTLAND (4-1-3-2): R Douglas (Celtic) 7 — R Stockdale (Middlesbrough 6; sub: G Alexander, Preston North End, 46min 5), D Weir (Everton) 6, C Dailly (West Ham United) 6, S Crainey (Celtic) 4 — G Williams (Nottingham Forest 6; sub: M Stewart, Manchester United, 64 5) — K McNaughton (Aberdeen) 6, P Lambert (Celtic) 6, S Gemmill (Everton 6; sub: G Caldwell, Newcastle United, 46 5) — S Thompson (Dundee United 5; sub: G O’Connor, Hibernian, 74), N McCann (Rangers 6; sub: A Johnston, Middlesbrough, 78). Substitutes not used: P Gallacher (Dundee United), C Davidson (Leicester City), S Crawford (Dunfermline Athletic), M Ross (Rangers), A Combe (Dundee United).
NIGERIA (4-3-1-2): A Ejide (Gabros 5; sub: A Bankole, Crewe Alexandra, 46 7) — E Sodje (Crewe Alexandra 6; sub: E Ifeajigwa, Wolfsburg, 85), J Yobo (Marseilles) 6, I Okoronkwo (Shakhtar Donetsk) 6, J Christopher (Antwerp 4; sub: M Adepoju, Salamanca, 78) — A Okocha (Paris Saint-Germain) 7, E Ejiofor (Maccabi Haifa) 5, J Utaka (Al Sadd) 6 — Kanu (Arsenal) 6 — J Aghahowa (Shakhtar Donetsk) 8, B Ogbeche (Paris Saint-Germain) 7. Substitutes not used: N Eze (Julius Berger), P Ikedia (Ajax), B Kaku (Genk), P Mancha (Jurong), B Akwuegbu (Shenyeng Gendi), O Odewegie (Insurance), L Idahor (Dynamo Kiev).
Referee: T Ovredo (Norway) 6.
___________________ Feel me? Ofu onye ana asi unu abia go. - Ednut Igbo-American . www.airamericaradio.com visit her. Posts: 2450 | From: Mother Earth | Registered: Mar 2001
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