Thursday 15 October 2009

The Swiss Silenced Nigerians

Switzerland defeated the Golden Eaglets by one goal to nil to deny the host country the opportunity to make history by being the first country ever to win the trophy for the fourth time.

Although the Golden Eaglets got the Fair Play trophy, they watched with tears as the European boys took the coveted cup away from the Nigeria's backyard.

The Eaglets started with determination and looked as if they were going to carry the day, but lost several chances in the first half. It got worse as the Nigerian coach, John Obuh, threatened from the sideline to remove Sani Emmanuel if he continued to play selfish football.

Emmanuel had shot wide when he should have passed the ball to another player who was perfectly positioned in front of the goal. Such selfishness terribly angered the coache who later substitutes him with Olanrewaju Kayode who almost scored immediately he entered the field.

Switzerland did not play their best football as well but of course they managed to curtail the pressures mounted by the trio of Obinna Okoro, Sani Emmanuel and Edafe Egbedi.

The second half looked dull as both teams cooled than the tempo probably waiting for each other to make mistakes and then capitalise on it.

It was the Eaglets who committed the mistake in the 63rd minute when Haris Seferovic headed home the winning goal from a corner kick.

After the epic goal, the African boys tried to equalise but the European boys put up a superb defending which invariably disorganised the former who now looked desperate to find the net.

What could have been a goal and the last chance for the host resulted into scrambling inside the Swiss net after Okoro's header had hit the post, and a well taken shot caused melee. Although a replay showed that it was a goal, the referee thought otherwise.

The reality was getting too much for the fans who had been silenced by that lone goal which gave the Swiss their first-ever world title.