The golden eaglets of Nigeria might have had a wonderful start to the competition, but this is no determinant that they are going to win t...
The golden eaglets of Nigeria might have had a wonderful start to the competition, but this is no determinant that they are going to win the cup.
They did great exploits during the group stages, with Kelechi Iheanacho scoring four in the Eaglet’s first game against defending Champions Mexican counter-parts. It was the worst ever defeat for a defending champion when they defeated the 6-1 in their first group game.
They continued their show of brilliance by coming from two goals down to play a three all draw with Sweden and they continued with a 5 nil demolition of Iraq.
This set them up into a perfect start in the competition. They also equaled a personal and tournament best of 14 goals by a country in the group stages, a record that the 1993 team that won this tournament set.
All these put together shows that the boys are really ready for the challenge ahead.
But it is also a good thing to note that the Iranians they would be playing, qualified from tough group also. They played their first game against Argentina, and were able to hold their own. Ending the game 1-1.
They also have a crop of wonderful players who can hold themselves against and attack minded team like Nigeria. This can be attested to by the fact that they have only conceded one goal in three matches.
With players such as Mostafa Hashemi, Yousef Seyyedi and team captain Hosseini, they would be looking to put up a brilliant performance. They have shown individual brilliance like in the game against Austria were Seyyedi made a brilliant run to score the only goal of the game. Not to mention being one of the teams with the best defense in the tournament. This would be a game of totally different philosophies and tactics going head to head.
The Nigerians play a dazzling total football, with lots of freedom and are attack minded. The Iranians on the other hand, play a more compact, defensive and strict football style. It is left then to see who would carry the day.
