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. You eropeans shame to you all. Make una see me so na­ una own we Africans go dey suffer make suffer kill all­ of una there una papa and mama. The comments wey una­ make yesterday eh, if una try am again I tell una say­ Me Like this I get Green Card to una country why una go­ dey use that word to the african "erratic"­ anyway the white men does not go to school cus dem­ think say dem no everything wey them they speak for­ mouth but dem no no say dem no no anything. Thank God­ Nigerians don put shame for una eyes yersterday

    From Blesing, on Wed 20 Aug 9:47AM
  2. You eropeans shame to you all. Make una see me so na­ una own we Africans go dey suffer make suffer kill all­ of una there una papa and mama. The comments wey una­ make yesterday eh, if una try am again I tell una say­ Me Like this I get Green Card to una country why una go­ dey use that word to the african "erratic"­ anyway the white men does not go to school cus dem­ think say dem no everything wey them they speak for­ mouth but dem no no say dem no no anything. Thank God­ Nigerians don put shame for una eyes yersterday

    From Blesing, on Wed 20 Aug 9:46AM
  3. NAIJA vs AGENTINA. That 1 na small thing cus the way we­ go take bulala them like the way adult the take bulala­ small child na so we go do them. Me I no dey make mouth­ oooooooooooo but I no wetin we go do them cus na wetin­ I dey pray God make he do for us so that we go fit­ bulala dem well well cus we pass them too much, no be­ that thing wey dem they play my friend forget am we don­ win that GOLD for the 3rd time God dey jare no shaking­ for Naija. Naija go for G ! O ! L ! D M ! E !­ D ! A ! L

    From Blesing, on Wed 20 Aug 9:23AM
  4. I know we are going to defeat the Agentines I'm not­ afraid of them cus God is going to do it the way he­ does it between us and the belgium.
    Helen

    From Blesing, on Wed 20 Aug 9:12AM
  5. We're the only African that is there and we are­ going to do our best thank GOD. I'm pleased­ yesterday for those 1wondafu goals I luv our guys. U­ guys should keep it up.

    From Blesing, on Wed 20 Aug 9:09AM
  6. I'm very happy when I saw the 1st GOAL,I no our­ boys can do it again no rash in live afterall they­ started very poor but with God I've confidence cos­ God of score is always with us. Also our coach Samson­ Siasia ve proved to us that with him we(Nigeria) can do­ more that is what the whitemen can do we Nigerians can­ also do it on our own. It's a very good result­ afterall we've not won any medal since this game­ started, but I beleive God that we are going two have­ GOLD this time. GLORY!GLORY! GLORY! TO GOD.
    Helen

    From Blesing, on Wed 20 Aug 9:04AM
  7. i am sure UK RESIDENTS (black, white, yellow, pink or­ whatever) would have noted the irritating habbits of­ the british press in blindly promoting every thing­ british (even PAULA ''cry baby''­ RADCLIFFE). how a looser can feature in all front­ covers of their paper goes a long way to show how much­ the so call GREAT? BRITAIN craves for a winner.
    during­ the wimbledon, poor MURRAY was suddenly the best thing­ since bread and butter and when a hackney British girl­ won the juniors, the press were already on to her­ beating the WILLIAMS in next year wimbledon.
    try­ following the Olympics coverage on the BBC and you­ would feel so sorry for the political correctness in­ the UK highly reflected which silently downsizes­ anything FOREIGN but blows out of sensible proportion­ anything BRITISH.
    GOD S..E THE Q...N

    From ola, on Wed 20 Aug 8:38AM
  8. CONGRATULATION to the Big boys & to all Nija. I­ believe you will make us more proud of U come­ Saturday.We have the crops of player that can bring the­ world cup home in 2010.
    We must use them to replace the­ super "chicken" sentiment aside.
    My candid­ advice for the boys is to make sure espicially OBASI to­ make sure he makes tatical falls in their 18 like Messi­ & Aguero. That is their trick. Avoid conceding­ penalty and we will contain them.
    Idigba

    From sunday, on Wed 20 Aug 8:10AM
  9. I think these are the future of Nigerian football.­ Siasia is an epitome of success.he should be given the­ chance to coach the super Eagles of Nigeria.Kudos­ boys.....Go for Goldm!!!!

    From EddyW, on Wed 20 Aug 5:50AM
  10. Nigeria Vs Argentina. The best final I could think of­ for these Olympics.. Down wit Brazil the big-hype of­ football -not as big a hype as England though :-)..

    From Half A Brain, on Wed 20 Aug 3:44AM
  11. Kudos! to all Nigerians & fans world wide.­ Meanwhile, Argentina is not an easy team, pls! boys­ train and map out some strategies to win the final­ unfailingly. If it needs to do "ojoro" please­ do it becos they too are "ojoro" master -­ remember Maradona.
    IF THESE BOYS WON THIS GOLD ON­ SATURDAY, 23RD AUG. I PROMISE THEM ALL AN INTERNATIONAL­ HAND SHAKE BY ME.
    FROM
    FEMI OLAYEMI, ENGLAND.

    From Femi, on Wed 20 Aug 1:57AM
  12. Kudos! to all Nigerians & fans world wide.­ Meanwhile, Argentina is not an easy team, pls! boys­ train and map out some strategies to win the final­ unfailingly. If it needs to do "ojoro" please­ do it becos they too are "ojoro" master -­ remember Maradona.
    IF THESE BOYS WON THIS GOLD ON­ SATURDAY, 23RD AUG. I PROMISE THEM ALL AN INTERNATIONAL­ HAND SHAKE BY ME.

    From Femi, on Wed 20 Aug 1:53AM
  13. Hi All.
    Congrats 2 9ja and Ajentina.
    The earlier Semi­ waz gud. Note the discipline in the 9ja team such that­ three midfield players were granted free licence to­ roam. That at times caused niggles of confusion but the­ belgians were not able to capitalise on the 2 minutes­ of missed focus. The 9ja boys however reorganised­ quickly to take control of the match. Siasia has truly­ earned his wings, and i believe that with his tactics­ and God's help the GOLD medal is going to­ NIgeria.
    Ajentina are defending champs, and would be­ foolish to plan for 9ja based on the belgian match.
    A­ big plea to the Int'l press, when reporting, please­ resist nall forms of prebias and be objective giving­ due credit to the guys that deserve it.

    Three Gbosa to­ 9ja.
    Gbosa! Gbosa!! Gbosa!!!

    Peace 2 all
    iN Da House

    From In D, on Wed 20 Aug 1:24AM
  14. Oh ye my 9ja peeps, lets wait till saturday to confirm­ this aratic report, from the exuberant reporter.

    From ayo t, on Tue 19 Aug 10:22PM
  15. Congratulation to all Nigerian and Nigerian Fans we are­ really proud of all of you because you did well, and we­ hope that you are going to do more than this on­ saturday. i pray that allmight god we be with all of u,­ my advise for you is to go for final and did put more­ effort like Man United did the last season and they are­ getting what they want. i want you to get gold for­ nigerian to make us proud and i belived that you will­ get it insha allah.
    love you wish you good luck
    frm­ CITY BOI

    From adisaboi, on Tue 19 Aug 10:04PM
  16. Well done boys!!! keep the eagles and the flag flying.­ One thing though is that we should also concentrate on­ other sports, and don't limit our hopes and­ aspirations on football only.
    Adeboyo (bigB)

    From boyo, on Tue 19 Aug 9:34PM
  17. I understand the sentiments towards the article. The­ media (esp the Brits) are baised most of the times.­ Eurosport hardly writes its articles; they borrow from­ mainstream, Talksport, Rueters (in this case).lets not­ take anyhting away from the Nigerian team who performed­ suberbly. Lets hope they keep thier composure and­ finish the job on saturday

    From Melanie, on Tue 19 Aug 9:21PM
  18. I think it`s a Good thing that this Nigerian team is­ doing so well, if the whole of Nigeria can pull­ together in other parts of life like we do for football­ There should be nothing stopping us from Been A very­ Successful Nation. All i can say if One love One­ Heart.......
    I pledge to Nigeria My country to be­ faithfull loyal and honest to serve Nigeria with all My­ stirenght, to defend her unity and Uphold Her honour­ and Glory SO HELP ME GOD.

    From adeoba1, on Tue 19 Aug 9:11PM
  19. Team Nigeria, just go for GOLD!!! to shame the RACISTS­ and our SPORTS ADMINISTRATORS.
    Remember....GO FOR­ GOLD!!!
    Amen-by DV.
    From eXCEPTIONAL dEMAND cURVE­ -Adams

    From Adamson, on Tue 19 Aug 8:50PM
  20. NIGERIA ONE MORE MATCH TO GO WELL DONE.
    WE TRUST IN­ ALL OF YOU TO BRING GOLD BACK FOR NIGERIA,
    I WISH ALL­ THE PLAYERS GOOD LOCK AND STRENGTH FOR THE MACHT­ SATURDAY,

    From Mrs. RuthA, on Tue 19 Aug 8:40PM
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