World Cup Review: France vs. Nigeria & Germany vs. Algeria

So, my predictions from yesterday have thus far come through, more or less.

France struggled a bit with their victory against Nigeria, and Germany struggled a lot in their victory over Algeria.

Still, they both won, as expected (and, ahem, predicted by...um, me).

But things did not go exactly according to plan in either match. Let's take a look.





France 2, Nigeria 0



This game remained scoreless for the vast majority of the match, with missed opportunities on both sides, but no scoring, as time was winding down.

For the most part, though, Nigeria was frustrating the French side, who were favored. The dangerous offense that France had shown throughout the tournament was being kept in check by a tough Nigerian defense.

Then, late in the second half, France finally broke through in the 79th minute, when Paul Pogba scored on a header to the corner of a goal, ending the scoreless draw and providing a 1-0 lead for the favorite, France.

With little time, and needing some small miracle to tie the game back up, Nigeria pressed for the equalizer, but were unsuccessful, as the ninety minutes expired, and with very little time left in the extra time.

Unfortunately, Nigeria did not help itself in extra time, as Joseph Yobo scored against his own goalie accidentally, providing France with a 2-0 lead against Nigeria.

That proved to be the final margin, as France moved on to the quarterfinal. They would learn who their next opponents would be in the next match, with the winner of Germany-Algeria moving on to meet France.









Germany 2, Algeria 1



Much like with the France-Nigeria match, this game featured a German side that was considered the heavy favorites, and the far more talented team.

But for much of the match, Germany did not look like the superior team. In fact, through perhaps the first half, it seemed like Algeria might be the better team.

The Germans dominated the time of possession, although that statistic may be misleading, since their usually prolific offense was not producing quality opportunities early on in the game.

Germany began to assert itself in the second half, and produced some quality shots on goal, although still, through the brilliance of Algerian keeper Rais M'Bolhi, Germany was unable to break through and score before regulation time ended.

But it did not take long in the extra session for Germany to finally produce, as André Schürrle nailed one past M'Bolhi to the corner of the goal to end the scoreless tie in the 92nd minute.

Then, Germany's Mesut Özil was able to provide even more cushion in the 119th minute with yet another goal, as Germany's offensive machine, which had been a sleeping giant until late in the game, suddenly came roaring to life!

Algeria was able to score a goal in the extra time of the extra time session, when Abdelmoumene Djabou got the ball to the corner of the goal, assisted by a nice pass from Sofiane Feghouli.

But, it was too little, too late. Algeria had an opportunity in the closing seconds to produce what would have been an astonishing, miracle goal, but it was ultimately no good, and Germany preserved the victory.

The Germans reached the quarterfinal for the 16th consecutive time (although I provided a link below that suggests otherwise), and will play France next.

http://ciskie.blogspot.com/2010/05/2010-fifa-world-cup-germany.html