Group F’s bottom two teams will battle it out for a possible second berth at the Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba this evening. These two teams have never met in international competition, friendly or otherwise, although many are writing this one off as a foregone conclusion and a bit of a training exercise for Bosnia and Herzegovina, with Nigeria having failed to win any of their nine World Cup games so far.
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The danger man for Nigeria this evening will be Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko, a current Premier League champion with English outfit Manchester City. His form in front of goal in the World Cup qualifiers saw him involved in 14 of his country’s goals, having scored ten himself and setting up four of them. For Nigeria’s part, they don’t score too often, with their last goal from open play coming against Sweden in 2002, courtesy of Aghahowa. The rest of their measly three goals since then have come from set pieces.
Nigeria aren’t too strong when defending set pieces, and it is perhaps this that needs to be addressed to prevent their current malaise from progressing any further. They have let in five of their last six goals this way and whether it is due to a lack of concentration or communication, or both, the Bosnians will seek to punish them wherever possible, needing to be ruthless in order to try and secure a second place.
Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi has a bit of a selection problem as up to four of his players may be ruled out through injury or otherwise this evening, with Kenneth Omeruo, Ahmed Musa, Godfrey Oboabona and Reuben Gabriel all unavailable. This is a problem for Nigeria as these four experienced players would likely be first choice against Bosnia and Herzegovina tonight in a game in which a result for Nigeria would likely send the Bosnians home.
Bosnia and Herzegovina had their own injury problems but have received a boost with the news that Emir Spahic will be available for selection this evening following a swift recovery from a knee injury. With that, Bosnia will have a full squad for Coach Safet Susic to choose from, a selection headache that any coach welcomes, as they look to gain a vital three points in this must-win encounter with the Super Eagles.This match will be a major stepping stone in their quest for a last sixteen place, having lost their opening day fixture against Argentina. They can rest easy however, knowing that they have already faced off against the Group F favourites, so in effect, the hardest part of the job is already done.
Both teams have to win, but neither team will want to give away any careless goals either, so both defenses are likely to be well disciplined and hard to break down.This game promises to be a quite a cagey occasion, given what’s at stake, however most pundits are giving the edge to Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the victory likely to be a narrow one.
