16-Sep-2001
   16-Sep-2001
Nigeria rout Japan 4-0 to top group B

Nigeria were in devastating form on the way to their second win at the FIFA
U-17 World Championship Trinidad & Tobago 2001 presented by JVC, defeating
Japan 4-0 in a Group B match in the Dwight Yorke Stadium on Sunday.
The West Africans scored twice in both halves. Karimu Shaibu and Femi
Opabunmi provided two goals before the half, and Victor Brown and Omonigho
Temile added two in the final six minutes of the game.

Both coaches opted to head into the match with the same team that helped
them to victories in their respective openers.

The match started at a furious pace, with both sides surging into attack.
The Golden Eaglets, who once again had the capacity crowd of 7,500 firmly
behind them and were edged forward by the sounds of beating drums, could
have opened the scoring as early as the 2nd minute. Captain Suleiman
Mohammed beat his marker and blasted a powerful shot, forcing a good save
from Kenta Tokushige.

A minute later Akpan Bassey had an opportunity to pull off a save of his own
after a well-taken header from Hiroto Mogi.

The West Africans then pushed the Japanese into their half and it was only a
matter of time before they broke down the door. Temile and Opabunmi came
close.

Nigeria finally opened the scoring in the 35th minute through Shaibu, who
chased a ball from just inside the Japanese half. He managed to head
up-field into his own path and then raced to outpace three defenders before
coolly slipping the ball past the keeper.

Nigeria doubled their advantage four minutes later after a cross from Temile
found Opabunmi alone in the area. His header left Tokushige with no chance.

In the second half, Nigeria kept up the pressure and had several
opportunities to increase their lead. Shaibu had the ball in the back of the
net on 65 minutes, but referee Lucilio Cardoso Cortez Batista of Portugal
ruled the strike offside. The forward later came close to scoring his second
of the match and third for the tournament, but a desperate tackle from a
Japanese defender prevented him from slotting home a well-directed shot.

The Nigerians added a third seven minutes from time through substitute Brown
who, for the second time in as many matches came off the bench to rasp a
goal from just inside the area. To add to Japan's woes, Batista awarded
Nigeria a penalty in injury time after a foul on Brown. Mohammed made no
mistake from the spot.

Japanese head coach Kohzo Tashima said that his side had been weakened by an
injury to Abe that had forced him to make a change early on. "But Nigeria
were the better side on the day."

The Nigerian coach, Musa Abdullahi said after the match that he had been
pleased with his side's performance. "I was not happy after our last match,
but this time the team did well."

JVC Best player of the match as selected by FIFA is Suleiman Mohammed of
Nigeria.

The victory sees Nigeria all but guaranteed a spot in the quarter-finals.
They head group B with six points and need only a point from the last group
game on Wednesday against the USA to qualify for the next round. Japan on
three points still have a chance of making it to the next round. They play
France in their last game.

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