Beijing 2008 - Nigeria crush Belgium to reach final

Eurosport - Tue, 19 Aug 14:03:00 2008

Nigeria thumped surprise package Belgium 4-1 to reach the Olympic final for the first time since winning the tournament 12 years ago.

FOOTBALL 2008 Beijing Olympics Nigeria Striker Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi - 0

Striker Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi scored twice in the second half after Olubayo Adefemi had given the exuberant but erratic Africans an early lead.

Chibuzor Okonkwo completed the rout while Victor Anchebi sidefooted wide with the goal at his mercy for arguably the worst miss of the competition.

Belgium, surprise winners over Italy in the quarter-finals, were on equal terms for the first hour but then fell apart.

The Olympic tournament is restricted to under-23 teams with three overage players permitted per side.

Nigeria, publicly criticised by coach Samson Siasia for lack of discipline earlier in the tournament, went ahead in the 17th minute when Okonkwo's shot hit a defender and fell nicely into the path of Adefemi who stroked the ball home from 12 metres.

Solomon Okoronkwo wasted another Nigerian chance when he broke clear of the Belgian defence but shot across the face of goal.

Then Peter Odemwingie turned the ball wide after Ogbuke Obasi slipped past his marker with some clever stepovers.

Belgium made a lively start to the second half with Faris Haroun blasting the ball against the crossbar and Tom De Mul forcing Ambruse Vanzekin to make a difficult save in successive attacks.

Nigeria increased their lead in the 59th minute when substitute Anichebe rolled the ball into the penalty area and Ogbuke Obasi slipped the offside trap to sidefoot home.

Long-range goals from Ogbuke Obasi and Okonkwo doubled Nigeria's tally in the last 20 minutes before substitute Laurent Ciman rifled a late consolation for Belgium.

Reuters

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  1. I know we have the talent...........we've got the­ ability and the strenght.........But Naija boyz pls­ watchout for that Merciless mercy.............He's­ the only danger man they count on...............Dont­ hit him in the 18yard plssssss...........Remembered­ what he did to you Adeleye..........Ave played this­ game with you at Liberty Stadium.....i really like your­ composure at the centre back dont infringe him again he­ caused us the cup in 2005...........no mistake­ pls................BOYZZZZZZZZZZ GO FOR­ GOLD..............ODEMINGWE YOU ARE­ SUPERB...............AM ONLY MISSING IK­ UCHE...........he would have been a treat to the­ Argentines tommorrow but i believe God of Soccer is­ with us...........LONG LIVE­ NIGERIA....................KENNY-JAH

    From ---=Jah=---Omo Hun hun, on Fri 22 Aug 7:54PM

  2. Naija 4 life... Una too much! Just remain focused, the­ end justifies the means. Go for Gold boyz.... God is­ wit ya!

    From millions, on Fri 22 Aug 3:59PM

  3. Common boys, after 12 years its time to get the GOLD­ back, U have every chance to have it, GO for GOLD as­ ordained by GOD`s Grace on our side........Then­ Argentina and others will bow easily. Its time to fly­ again ONLY with the EAGLES wing.....

    From Enoch, on Fri 22 Aug 12:35PM

  4. Good consistent game so far. My heart is with my boys­ as always. I really hope at this stage they don't­ play 12 men...if you know what I mean. Good luck­ Nigeria!!!

    From oyetunde. o, on Fri 22 Aug 10:22AM

  5. dont mind the man that describe our guys as an erratic­ guys, i think the man is the most stupid person on the­ planet earth. i really commend our boys for the great­ job they've been doing so far and i know that, the­ God that is our side since the begining of this­ tournament will still be with us on saturday, we're­ going to lift up that trophy by God grace. From Wale­ Amusan.

    From chatwtwale, on Thu 21 Aug 10:38PM

  6. history is gonna repeat itself , Nigeria all the way..

    From oscar, on Thu 21 Aug 9:15PM

  7. Nigerians teams did a great job, the government should­ do well to develope the country, so things we be like­ the rest of the developed world.Go for gold boys this­ your year

    From go, on Thu 21 Aug 5:40PM

  8. Dont think that word "ERRATIC" describes the­ boys at all. i think the boys won that match fairly.go­ for goals on saturday. go for gold

    From austinenwagwu, on Thu 21 Aug 3:15PM

  9. Just because I'm not claiming that eurosport is­ racist doesn't mean I'm out of place Ola.­ I'm more Naija than you'll ever be. But that­ doesn't mean I'll go with the flow when i see­ something utterly stupid on the way.

    From Aggie, on Thu 21 Aug 1:35PM

  10. BY THE SPECIAL GRACE OF GOD, NIGERIA IS GOING TO WIN ON­ SATURDAY, GOOOOOD LUCK BOYS!!!!

    From John Obafemi, on Thu 21 Aug 12:26PM

  11. I don't see any point in dwelling on the choice of­ words of the Eurosport reporter. The most important­ thing is that our team is winning and we are solidly­ behind them. We should not be too quick to equate every­ little thing with racism, because that is in itself­ racist.

    My Guys make we leave the plenty oyibo­ grammar, make we focus our attention to support our­ team in any which way... whether dem win or.... na you­ sabi if you complete am... Waffi no dey take last...­ all the Igbufa guys in the house, na me okiemute dey­ hail una.

    Peace out,

    Combrade Mikidon.

    From Mike, on Thu 21 Aug 11:24AM

  12. nigerian all the way

    From yusuf o, on Thu 21 Aug 10:11AM

  13. I can see the Nigerian players been decorated with the­ olympic gold medal because their Argentine counterpart­ will have nothing to offer on saturday. Its Naija­ again!
    Isaac O.
    Voghera, Italy

    From isaac, on Thu 21 Aug 1:01AM

  14. For sure Nigeria is gonna win the match on Saturday­ again for the second time in the olympics. I believe­ the guys will bring home VICTORY even if they don't­ win any other medal. Naija is well known for their­ TALENT and great SKILLS all over the world no matter­ what they think.

    I have no fear. ONCE AGAIN, GO FOR­ GOALS! BRING BACK THE GOLD TROPHY AND MEDALS!

    From nnadi, on Wed 20 Aug 11:20PM

  15. no Aggie or whatever, u need to get a life first. what­ u doing here anyways? u look out of sort here. go back­ to wherever u belong and let winners soccer winners­ enjoy the moment.

    From Ola M, on Wed 20 Aug 10:29PM

  16. I mean 2010. Nigeria for the World Cup & Olympics -­ it's about time!

    From Voortrekker, on Wed 20 Aug 9:51PM

  17. Nigeria need to win, and also in 2012! The World Cup­ must come to Africa as well!

    From Voortrekker, on Wed 20 Aug 9:50PM

  18. nigeria players has done well so far. dont mind the­ haters, they are only jealous and na jealous go kill­ them all. goooo naija, go and exceeeeeeeeeeeeeeel

    From oluwaseunola82, on Wed 20 Aug 8:47PM

  19. oh, btw GOOD LUCK NAIJA!BRING BACK THE GOLD!

    From Aggie, on Wed 20 Aug 8:35PM

  20. This article is not racist!!!!!!!wtf???!!!! didn't­ the writer even explain that the nigerian coach claimed­ that the nigerian team was disorganized at first?????­ if this had been said about the argentinian team ,­ nobody would have said anything but just because they­ talked about the nigerian team which happens to be­ black, there's racism talk, God knows why. you­ people should just get a life. journalists criticize­ everybody. black teams included!

    From Aggie, on Wed 20 Aug 8:26PM
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