Nigeria vs Mexico The FIFA U17 World Cup has reached its climax, and Friday will see defending champions Mexico face favourites Nigeria for the right to lift the trophy. These two teams played each other in their opening match of the tournament, a match Nigeria ran away with 6-1 with Kelechi Iheanacho helping himself to four goals. Don’t let that result mislead you however, as for most of the match Mexico dominated possession, and they looked much the better team throughout the first half. Nigeria was devastating on the counter-attack in that match, and broke the Mexican spirit in the second half to score four goals. Teams since this game have learnt the lesson from Mexico and limited Nigeria’s opportunities to counter-attack, and I expect Mexico to have a vastly different game plan this time around. However, despite teams playing with more caution against them, Nigeria have still manage to score a lot of goals, while their own defense has improved and looked much stronger at the tournament has progressed. Iheanancho has been their best player throughout the tournament, but the goals have come from a number of different players as team having goal threats all over the pitch, making it near impossible to prevent them from scoring. Musa Yahaya has been particular impressive getting forward to support the attack, and Musa Muhammed was a constant threat from right-back in their semi-final against Sweden. The key to Nigeria’s improved defensive performances has been holding midfielder Chidiebere Nwakali . He was nothing short of outstanding in the semi-final shielding his back four and preventing Sweden from getting forward. If he is on the same form in the final Mexico will have a tough time finding a way to goal. As for Mexico, many thought after such a heavy defeat in their opening game their tournament would simply fade away, but this has not been the case. They regrouped spectacularly to get through the group as runners-up, and subsequently have beaten Italy, tournament favourites Brazil, and Argentina to reach the final. Raul Gudino has been the goalkeeper of the tournament, and the defense in front of him have transformed into a watertight unit. Captain Ulises Rivas has been excellent in midfield directing the play, and Alejandro Diaz has led the line superbly, both holding up the ball and scoring some great goals. Ivan Ochoa has been a constant threat from wide areas and has scored a number of goals at the back post from set pieces, something Nigeria will need to be very aware of. Marco Granados has also proved an effective attacking weapon off the bench late in games. If the final is close then expect to see him brought on around the 70th minute, as his pace and movement has caused tiring defenders no end of problems in the tournament. So who is going to win? If Nigeria can get an early goal then the Mexicans may begin to have flashbacks to the opening game of the tournament. However, Mexico will be very determined to restore their pride after that defeat, and so a repeat would seem very unlikely. No-one has restricted Nigeria to less than two goals in the tournament, and that was an ultra-defensive Uruguay who barely threatened to score a goal of their own. If Mexico is to win then they must score the first goal. If Nigeria scores first and Mexico needs to chase the game they will be picked off on the counter-attack. Mexico showed against Brazil they can close down an excellent attack, and they will need to be every bit as good in this game to get the result. They have the ability to do it, but I am not sure they will be able to.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 05:25:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015