Fangberichte » think it would take a lot of points to win this game

BRASILIA, Brazil - After being touted as one of the World Cups entertainers, it was a gritty performance which got France through to the quarterfinals in a 2-0 victory over Nigeria on Monday. Frances forward line had made headlines with eight goals in its opening two group games, but there was little flair on display in a hard-fought contest against the African champions. France needed a late header from midfielder Paul Pogba and an injury-time own goal from defender Joseph Yobo to overcome a robust Nigeria. The reward is a quarterfinal against Germany on Friday at Rio de Janeiros Maracana stadium, following the Germans 2-1 victory over Algeria. Pogbas goal in the 79th minute followed Nigerias best spell of the match and came soon after France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris had made a crucial save to deny Peter Odemwingie. "Were not the prettiest or the best, but we can do good things," France coach Didier Deschamps said after the game. "The deliverance came late. There was a lot of tension because we were up against a very athletic side and there were a lot of challenges." Nigeria, which had a goal ruled out for offside in the 19th minute after Emmanuel Emenike poked home Ahmed Musas cross from the left, wasted a lot of second-half possession. Four years ago, France crashed out of the group stage, shamed a nation by going on strike and was jeered by its own fans and lambasted by politicians in the fallout from an embarrassing tournament. Its very different situation now. "Im proud of my players because were coming back from very far. I think weve given a lot of pleasure back to our fans," Deschamps said. "I think there were 5,000 here and millions back home who will feel proud." Pogbas crucial goal came after Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama had just made a superb save to tip over Karim Benzemas header. But he he flapped at the ball from the ensuing corner and Pogba pounced in the 79th minute for his first World Cup goal. That atoned for placing a volley too close to Enyeama in a scrappy first half. Scoring such a crucial goal will boost his confidence heading into the last eight game. "We have four days left to prepare for another battle," Deschamps said. Yobo, who announced his international retirement after the game, turned the ball into his own net in stoppage time under pressure from France substitute Antoine Griezmann. At the final whistle, Frances relieved players danced in front of their fans as dreams of a repeat run to the final — just like in 2006 — moved a step closer. "We had the whole country behind us," Pogba said. "Its one of the proudest moments of my life." France started slowly and finished strongly in the second round match. "Ive yet to see a team play well over the whole 90 minutes," Deschamps said. "Nigeria dropped off a bit and that allowed us to get on top." After Griezmann came on, Benzema finally came alive in the 70th, opening up the defence after a clever one-two with the France substitute. After Enyeama blocked Benzemas initial shot, his follow-up effort was hacked clear by Victor Moses. Video technology confirmed that the ball had not crossed the line. France failed to show the attacking flair of previous games, with Giroud skewing a shot wide early on. He also appeared to elbow John Obi Mikel in an off-the ball incident, having done the same in last weeks 0-0 draw with Ecuador after coming on as a second-half substitute. "The referee saw it and didnt even give him a warning. Not a yellow card, nothing," Mikel said. "The intention was there." Keshi was highly critical of American referee Mark Geigers handling of the game. "The ref is a human being, but a lot of mistakes were questionable," he said. "Giroud elbow, Pogba foot up ... he decides what happens on the field. Im not happy with the ref." Two chances were missed late in the half. Full-back Mathieu Debuchy smacked a shot wide and into the back of a steward, and Emenike saw his sharp drive from the edge of the area palmed away by Lloris. With Nigeria starting to dominate possession, Deschamps made a key change in the 62nd, taking Giroud off and bringing on Griezmann, freeing Benzema to play through the middle. Nigeria continued to push forward and centre half Laurent Kocielny cut out Musas dangerous cross from the right. But toward the end, it was all France as Griezmann boosted the attack. He almost made it 2-0 in the 85th that Enyeama tipped over brilliantly. Instead, it fell to Yobo to inadvertently add Frances second goal. ___ Lineups: France: Hugo Lloris; Mathieu Debuchy, Raphael Varane, Laurent Koscielny, Patrice Evra; Paul Pogba, Yohan Cabaye, Blaise Matuidi; Mathieu Valbuena (Moussa Sissoko, 94th), Olivier Giroud (Antoine Griezmann, 62nd), Karim Benzema. Nigeria: Vincent Enyeama; Efe Ambrose, Kenneth Omeruo, Joseph Yobo, Juwon Oshaniwa; Ogenyi Onazi (Ruben Gabriel, 59th), John Obi Mikel; Ahmed Musa, Peter Odemwingie, Victor Moses (Uche Nwofor, 89th); Emmanuel Emenike. Wholesale Athletics Jerseys . The Durban-based Sharks withstood a furious second-half fightback to beat the Queensland Reds 35-20 for a fourth straight win which gave them a five-point lead atop the championship table. The Hamilton-based Chiefs scored two late tries to beat the Cape Town-based Stormers 36-20 for their third win, after the Stormers rallied from 24-6 down to 24-20 with six minutes remaining. Cheap Athletics Jerseys .Mack, a reserve guard who came in averaging 3.8 points, made all six of his 3-pointers as the Hawks went 16 for 28 from behind the arc.Trailing 50-38 midway through the second quarter, Atlanta outscored Cleveland 89-48 the rest of the way and sent the Cavaliers to their largest loss of the season. https://www.cheapathleticsonline.com/. Huntelaar also had a penalty saved by Wolfsburg goalkeeper Diego Benaglio. The two goals brought Huntelaars total for the season to 18, level with Bayern Munichs Mario Gomez for most in the league. Stitched Athletics Jerseys . The Blue Jackets announced the injury through their official Twitter account Friday afternoon. Gaborik, 31, has scored five goals and six assists in 17 games with the Blue Jackets in 2013-14. Athletics Jerseys 2019 . Gough finished in fourth, 0.433 seconds behind American Erin Hamlin, who took the bronze medal at the Sanki Sliding Center in Rzhanaya Polyana.(SportsNetwork.com) - Its fair to call Mike McCarthy one of the best coaches in the NFL but its also more than objective to point out that the veteran mentor bookended the Green Bay Packers season with two, truly awful game plans in Seattle. Back on Kickoff Weekend, McCarthys stubborn insistence on staying away from Richard Sherman made his offense predictable by the second quarter after it became painfully obvious the coach had no interest in targeting the All-Pro and quarterback Aaron Rodgers was going to acquiesce. The result was a 36-16 Seattle rout and, more importantly, the difference between the NFC Championship Game being held in CenturyLink Field instead of Lambeau. Fast forward to Sunday where McCarthys multitude of mistakes cost the Packers a trip to the Super Bowl despite the fact that his charges dominated a sloppy Seattle team for almost 58 minutes. The Seahawks miraculously overcame five turnovers and a 12-point hole in the waning minutes of regulation to reach the big game for a second consecutive season by downing Green Bay 28-22. This is a hard one to swallow, McCarthy admitted. We had opportunities, particularly at critical times to make plays. We had plays and Seattle made some of those big plays to keep the game alive so you have to give them credit. The Packers coach can drop the self-deprecating act, though, because he deserved plenty of credit for the outcome also. Apologists for McCarthy are trying to peddle the narrative that if reserve tight end Brandon Bostick, who was supposed to be a blocker, just snared a rather easy onside kick attempt, the Packers would be during up the itinerary for Glendale. And while thats true, it doesnt address McCarthys poor decision-making throughout the game which put Bostick in the position to fail. Brandon, just like anything, you get in to one of those critical spots, McCarthy said. It is important for everybody to do their job. Unfortunately that wasnt the case on that play. And thats the result of it. The coachs ultra-conservative mindset in the first quarter -- most notably, kicking two Mason Crosby field goals from 18 and 19 yards out -- received most of the attention but his incompetence in the final frame was even more egregious, as he ran five out of six plays on consecutive three-and-outs despite possessing the presumptive MVP in Rodgers. And, on one of the three-and-outs, it was the pedestrian James Starks carrying the football not the hard-nosed Eddie Lacy. We had some cchances early, had some chances late to do some things and didnt do it, Rodgers said.dddddddddddd When you go back and think about it, at times we werent playing as aggressive as we usually are. Field goals early in the game, we knew that points were at a premium, McCarthy added. Frankly, I would have liked to have gone for it there on fourth down, but based on what we saw, on second and third down, I just felt that you had to take points. To be fair some of McCarthys shaky choices had to do with Rodgers health as the All-Pro was hardly himself because of a left calf injury but neither were Seahawks star safety Earl Thomas or Sherman, who was playing with one arm late in the game. Meanwhile, A-Rod sure seemed capable of doing some things when leading the Packers down the field to force overtime in the final seconds. Weve finished off games before in four-minute (offense), Rodgers said while treading lightly, no bout aware of McCarthys ample ego. We had a chance to do some things; didnt do it. To many, any criticism of McCarthys strategy is off base because of Bosticks miscue but that ignores nuance, and while plenty contributed to this collapse, none were more culpable than McCarthy. You cant let (the Seahawks) complete a pass for a touchdown on a fake field goal, you cant give up an onside kick and you cant not get any first downs in the fourth quarter and expect to win, Rodgers said. And thats on top of being really poor in the red zone in the first half. Put all of that together, thats how you lose games. This was a great opportunity. We were right on the cusp. Until McCarthy directed them off of it. If anything, it was the Packers coach who failed Bostick and Rodgers and Lacy and every other player you can name that was wearing the Green and Gold on Sunday, not the other way around. McCarthy is a micromanaging, joystick coach, albeit a very good one. Instead of adjusting in-game or coaching with any kind of feel, however, he walks into a contest with a plan and loathes to deviate. If you want to question my playcalling ... Im not questioning it, McCarthy boated. I didnt think it would take a lot of points to win this game. I came in here to run the ball. The one statistic I had has as far as a target to hit was 20 rushing attempts in the second half, I thought that would be a very important target to hit for our offense. Unfortunately for Green Bay fans, the target can change and sometimes you need a coach to realize it. ' ' '