Wednesday 21 November 2007

Nigeria beats Switzerland 1-0


Taye Taiwo scored in the 79th minute and gave Nigeria a 1-0 victory over Switzerland, the final friendly match of the year for the 2008 European Championship co-host.

The left back who plays for Marseille struck with a strong left-foot from outside the box on a pass back from captain Peter Odemwingie, sending the ball into the left corner just beyond the hand of diving Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio.

It was the fifth loss in 10 games for the Swiss this year. The traveling Nigerians ended a series of friendlies with their second win to go along with a pair of draws and two losses.

A crowd of 12,700 attended the match in Zurich's refurbished Letzigrund, one of the four Swiss stadiums to be used for next year's championship finals.

Both sides were missing some of their key players because of injuries.

The Swiss were better organized in the first half. After a flurry of Swiss action around the Nigerian goal at the start of the second half, the visitors seemed to gain strength as the match progressed.

source: International Herald Tribune