Goals: France—Pogba 79’, Yobo 90’+1 (own-goal)
Recap: A mildly entertaining affair saw France defeat Nigeria 2-0 on Monday.
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For nearly 80 minutes, Le Bleus were kept at bay by a the gritty African side. The Super Eagles failed to convert a few chances of their own. The breakthrough moment would come in the 79th minute. A header from Paul Pogba gave France the 1-0 lead. A comical own-goal from Joseph Yobo sealed the 2-0 victory just 12 minutes later.
France now awaits the winner of Germany and Algeria in the quarterfinals.
Key Moment: One tactical change rewrote history for France. A poor performance from Olivier Giroud resulted in zero productivity for head coach Didier Deschamps. Antoine Griezmann was substituted in to provide a spark. He did. The infusion of his talents allowed France to dominate the final 25 minutes of the match, eventually capturing the 2-0 victory.
Man of the Match: The totality of Pogba’s performance is worthy of mention. In addition to his eventual match-winner, the 21-year-old finished with four successful take ons and three effective clearances. He also went on to win 100 percent of his aerial duels.
Lesson Learned: Africa boasts talented nations, but not one that could compete at the highest level in 2014. Ghana, Cameroon and the Ivory Coast failed to escape the group stages. Nigeria couldn’t survive against one of Europe’s elite. The continent’s last glaring hope is Algeria, who faces Germany in Rio de Janeiro. World Cup dreams have turned into World Cup nightmares for the Confederation of African Football.
Up Next: France travels to Rio de Janeiro to participate in the quarterfinals, while Nigeria returns home to prepare for the next World Cup cycle.
Note: Credit all statistics to officially licensed data from Opta Sports (via WhoScored).
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