Nigeria vs. South Korea FIFA World Cup 2010: Match Review

It was an agonizing thing to watch.

As a Nigerian, even though the outcome of this match had not been in doubt for me, I  still had a glimmer of hope that Nigeria might do enough in their last group match against South Korea to earn the second seed in Group B.

In the end, it was Argentina and South Korea.

Nigeria had a promising start. An early lucky goal from Kalu Uche in the 12th minute put them on course to qualify. There were some changes in today's line up, with Rabiu Afolabi replacing the injured Taye Taiwo, Kanu Nwanko starting in place of  Osaze Odemwingie, and Yusuf Ayila replacing the suspended Sani Kaita, but little was different from what we've seen from the Nigerians in their previous matches.

Sloppy midfield passes resulted in two set pieces that South Korea converted to their advantage. The first was the equalizer in the 38th minute through Jungsoo, a result of poor marking from Afolabi. The other, to take the lead in the 49th minute through Park Chu Young.

And though Nigeria came into this match needing a win, it appeared as though they were playing for a draw. They were slow on the ball, not challenging for loose balls, and retreating to their own half when not in possession.

Most of all, they played without verve.

They had a few chances to score goals, but poor finishing exposed the Nigerian side. They finally equalized after Ogbuke Obasi was tripped in the Korean penalty area. In the 69th minute, Yakubu Ayegbeni converted the penalty.

While Obafemi Martins could have won the match for Nigeria in the 79th minute, his finishing wasn't any different from Ayegbeni's 63rd minute miss. Ayegbeni was only a few yards from the goal mouth and had already beaten the keeper, but put the ball wide.

Kanu had a good game but tired out in the second half of the game. Two substitutions for Nigeria, Martins for Kanu and Nsofo for Yakubu, injected some energy into the game, although the resultant play from Nigeria was far from quality. A last ten-minute scramble by the Super Eagles came a little too late.

Nigeria certainly did not deserve to go through to the second round. Any glimmer of hope I nurtured was for Africa, but come to think of it, with poor preparation, should Africa have deserved any better than their poor outing in South Africa?