Nigeria
progressed to the quarter-finals at the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament Rio
2016 after a 1-0 victory over Sweden in Group B thanks to a Sadiq Umar header
at the Amazonia Arena in Manaus. UmarSadiq Umar’s header that sealed the day
for the Dream Team For a large part of the match both sides were playing
conservatively but Nigeria certainly looked the most threatening in attack.
Fresh from scoring four goals last time out, Oghenekaro Etebo attempted several
shots in the half—with his right foot, left foot and with his head—but he was
unable to get the better of Sweden goalkeeper Andreas Linde. Nigeria eventually
found the opener six minutes from time, when Stanley Amuzie delivered a
pinpoint, curling cross in open play from the left wing that found Umar and the
Roma man made no mistake, scoring with a diving header. The Dream Team
continued their dominance in the second half, and just three minutes in,
captain John Obi Mikel took had a well-driven shot from the top of the area
saved by Linde. The Swedish goalkeeper had to be alert four minutes later when
Etebo dribbled inside the corner of the penalty box and attempted a curling
effort, but once again, Linde saved. Coach Hakan Ericson did use all three of
his substitutes—Ken Sema, Muamer Tankovic and Jacob Une Larsson to try and give
his team a new dimension but, in the end, Nigeria’s backline was up to the
challenge and held on to all three points. On Wednesday, Nigeria will close out
group play against Colombia in Sao Paulo, while Sweden have a must-win match
ahead against Japan in Salvador if they are going to continue their Rio 2016
journey.
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