BY SEGUN ADEOSUN
In an evening when defending champions and four times title holders, Germany, crashed to Austria 2-1, compounding their World Cup preparations woes, Super Eagles of Nigeria only woke up in the second half to knock in a goal that gave them so much hope but still went down 1-2 to host England.
An equally young side as the Eagles, the Three Lions were saved a looming home disgrace with two first half goals from Gary Cahill and Harry Kane.
In a match in which both sides were obviously injury-wary, it took only seven minutes for Cahill, who was making his first appearance for England since October, to head home the opener from a corner kick by Kieran Trippier.
The goal sent England’s fans among the 70,000 fans at Wembley Stadium into wild jubilation. Everything looked set for a comfortable victory for the English side when Raheem Sterling laid a pass for Kane to make it double for the home team. That was in the 39th minute.
It was a redemption goal for Sterling who had a rough week that made him hit the headlines for the wrong reasons. He made embarrassing headlines with his gun tattoo, reporting late to the national camp and getting booked in yesterday’s match after faking a cheap fall when Nigeria’s goalkeeper, Francis Odinaka Uzoho, had come off the line to grab the ball.
Though he didn’t shine like a thousand stars like many Nigerians had been hoping, Alex Iwobi, nonetheless, proved class as he latched on to a rebound to net Nigeria’s lone goal in the second minute of the second half. It was Nigeria’s first goal, ever, against England. Recall that it was Iwobi’s goal against Gambia that also gave Nigeria the ticket to Russia.
Had as the Super Eagles tried in the second half, they could not get the leveler.
England has another friendly against Costa Rica in Leeds on Thursday before Southgate’s side opens its campaign in Russia against Tunisia on June 18.
Nigeria, which were held by Congo to a lack-lustre 1-1 draw in Port Harcourt on Monday, play the Czech Republic on Wednesday before facing Croatia in its World Cup opener on June 16.
Even though most Nigerians were somewhat pleased with the result, hoping the team would improve with each game, it was one hell of a night for Tottenham Hotspur and England midfielder, Bamidele Jermaine Alli, otherwise known as Dele Alli. Nigerian spectators at Wembley (and they were many) booed him each time he was on the ball.
And what was the offence of the Premier League footballer, born of a Nigerian father and a British mother? The fans felt betrayed that he turned his back against his fatherland, preferring England’s shirt.
Dele, who was born on April 11, 1996, had opted to play for England, the country of his birth, as Nigeria’s Manager, Gernot Rohr crisscrossed Europe to assemble a solid team for the World Cup kicking off in Russia on Thursday, June 14, when the host lock horns with Saudi Arabia. Bookmakers have predicted an easy win for Russia.
Gernot Rohr, Nigeria’s German tactician, had this to say after the match at Wembley: “This game shows we still have a lot of work to do to be ready for the World Cup.”
Like Nigeria, it was not an easy evening for reigning champions, Germany, who have their winless preparations blues compounded by Saturday’s 2-1 thrashing by Austria, a country that will watch the largest football event on earth on television.
Manager Joachim Low and his team have not won a game since October. In the countdown to Russia 2018, the Germans have drawn with England, France and Spain; and lost to Brazil 0-1 at home. Brazil used the slim 1-0 victory to close their nightmarish 0-7 defeat by Germany in the 2014 World Cup which they hosted.
Germany took control of the game very early with Mesut Ozil blasting home the opener. But Austria turned the game on its head with two second half goals from Martin Hinteregger and Alessandro Schopf. It was the seventh successive victory by Austria.
The game played at the Worthersee Stadion in Klagenfurt was delayed for one hour, 40 minutes by heavy downpour. The defending champions will play Saudi Arabia at the Bay Arena before beginning the defence of their title against Mexico with their Group F opener on June 17 in Moscow.
Pre-World Cup Friendly International Results for June 1 & 2
| 02.06. 21:00 | Iceland | Norway | 2 : 3 | |
| 02.06. 20:00 | Ireland | USA | 2 : 1 | |
| 02.06. 19:45 | Belgium | Portugal | 0 : 0 | |
| 02.06. 19:15 | Montenegro | Slovenia | 0 : 2 | |
| 02.06. 18:45 | Sweden | Denmark | 0 : 0 | |
| 02.06. 17:15 | England | Nigeria | 2 : 1 | |
| 02.06. 17:00 | Austria | Germany | 2 : 1 | |
| 02.06. 15:30 | Kenya | New Zealand | 2 : 1 | |
| 02.06. 12:30 | Thailand | China | 0 : 2 | |
| 01.06. 22:15 | Algeria | Cape Verde | 2 : 3 | |
| 01.06. 20:30 | Chile U20 | Venezuela U20 | 1 : 0 | |
| 01.06. 20:15 | Egypt | Colombia | 0 : 0 | |
| 01.06. 20:00 | France | Italy | 3 : 1 | |
| 01.06. 19:15 | Tunisia | Turkey | 2 : 2 | |
| 01.06. 18:00 | Georgia | Malta | 1 : 0 | |
| 01.06. 15:30 | India | Chinese Taipei | 5 : 0 | |
| 01.06. 14:00 | Paraguay U20 | Uruguay U20 | 1 : 4 | |
| 01.06. 12:00 | Australia | Czech Republic | 4 : 0 | |
| 01.06. 12:00 | South Korea | Bosnia & Herzegovina | 1 : 3 |
TODAY’S MATCHES
| 03.06. 01:00 | Honduras | El Salvador | – | 2.60 | 3.20 | 2.75 | ||||
| 03.06. 01:00 | 8 | Mexico | Scotland | 0 – 0 | 1.36 | 4.75 | 8.50 | |||
| 03.06. 14:00 | Canc | Kosovo | Ivory Coast | – | – | – | – | |||
| 03.06. 15:00 | Albania | Ukraine | – | 5.25 | 3.40 | 1.72 | ||||
| 03.06. 15:00 | Brazil | Croatia | 1.57 | 3.60 | 6.50 | |||||
| 03.06. 16:00 | Andorra | Cape Verde | – | 4.00 | 3.50 | 1.72 | ||||
| 03.06. 16:30 | Austria U21 | Czech Republic U21 | – | 2.40 | 3.50 | 2.40 | ||||
| 03.06. 18:00 | Costa Rica | Northern Ireland | 1.85 | 3.30 | 4.50 | |||||
| 03.06. 19:00 | Saudi Arabia | Peru | 7.00 | 3.50 | 1.57 | |||||
| 03.06. 20:00 | Spain | Switzerland | 1.33 | 4.50 | 11.00 |
- Source: soccer24.com
