It wasn't one of those glorious nights for one the tournament's favorites, as a determined Australian side pulled an astonishing stunt to humble the Five Times Champions. Not what many of us expected, considering our prediction on this post. But I think Manu Garba and Golden Eaglets will be grateful to the stars after the game, as they had already booked a spot in the round of 16 after their dramatic 2-3 comeback against Ecuador in their second Group B match. After Australia lost 2-1 against Ecuador in their opening game and played a 2-2 draw with Hungary in their second group B match, many didn't see them surviving a highflying Golden Eaglets side, who had secured a resounding two wins in their previous games.
Not only did Nigeria win those games, but the manner at which they did it left many with doubts of Australia securing a win against Nigeria. In their past 6 meetings heading into Friday's clash, the European side have never secured a win against Nigeria, in fact, the Golden Eaglets have won all those games, scoring a total of 18 goals and conceding just 2. The statistics ahead of Friday night's last group game encounter between both sides all pointed towards the direction of Nigeria as the favorite.
But yeah! Friday came knocking and many of us were taken aback by the outcome of the game which ended 2-1 in favour of Australia. For some time now in this tournament, we've watched the Golden Eaglets stage two comebacks against Hungary and Ecuador to coast home with all 3 points. It seems they(The golden eaglets) have gotten used to conceding goals before staging a comeback to win, maybe that's what motivates them, but whatever it is, it failed to work against Australia on Friday night. Though the European knew their chances of making it to the next round was slim and it would take Hungary's victory against Ecuador for them to progress, but first, they had to do their own end of the bargain, which is defeating Nigeria. They knew Nigeria were going to be a bit lackadaisical and complacent having booked a place already in the tournament's round of 16. Australia also understood that they could use their underdog status in their favour, and it worked. Those who must have placed their bets in favour of Nigeria may have been caught off guard by the resilience of the European side. However, despite securing a 2-1 victory over Nigeria, a 3-2 win of Hungary by Ecuador meant Australia will still not make it to the next round, as they finished with just 4 points in the group after 3 games.
The Australians came into Friday's match with every strength they could muster, it was a must win game and they made sure they finished victorious against all odds. They knew if they could go hard on the Eaglets at the early moments of the match, they could stand a chance of netting an early goal to boost their confidence. Of course, they knew what was at stake and a victory at Estadio Bezerrao was nonnegotiable. Most times in moments like this, it's always the brilliance of one player that makes the difference and Noah Botic was the player that fired Australia against Nigeria on Friday. Despite scoring in both halves to secure a 2-1 win for his side, they were unable to progress to the knockout stage of the competition. The Australian side drew the first blood at the 13th minute after a fine team move saw Botic put the ball in the net to give Australia a one goal lead. It didn't take much long for Nigeria to fight back as expected and seven minutes later, Olawale who made his first appearance in the tournament equalised for Nigeria to make it 1-1. At this point, I thought Nigeria would replicate their usual comebacks, but a 53rd penalty goal by Botic sealed the win for Australia. Though Nigeria created more chances in the second, they were unable to squeeze out a point from the game. The Golden Eaglets will now look forward to November 5th when they play their first knockout stage match.
Comments