Nigeria 1 - 0 Bulgaria
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After the failure of the Bulgarian team to win against the Group D outsiders Paraguay,
the game against Nigeria becomes crucial. A loss would all but take away the chances of
the semifinalists from USA 1994 to qualify for the second round in France.
Many observers also recall the game played between Bulgaria and Nigeria four
years ago. It was also a first round match in Group D. Bulgaria lost it
3:0 to march later to the semifinals defeating in the process
Greece, Argentina, Mexico, and the defending champions Germany.
- 3:00 min.
- Nigeria pressures Bulgaria, a surprising shot was saved by Zdravkov.
- 15:00 min.
- Teams play mostly in the Bulgarian half. Nigeria's pressure occasionally alters with
Bulgarian counter-attacks.
- 19:15 min.
- Adepoju gets a yellow card for fouling Hristov. Bulgarian tactics seems to be to slow
down the game, not give Nigerians opportunities to get the the goal, and occasionally shoot
from a long distance.
- 26:28 min.
- After a successful combination, Amokachi scores from a close distance, slipping the
ball under Zdravkov
- 28:15 min.
- Ikpeba misses another good opportunity to score
- 38:30 min.
- Amokachi shots from a close distance, but Zdravkov saves. The speed of the
game increases. This gives more opportunities to Nigeria, but some to Bulgaria
- 40:15 min.
- Stoichkov makes a dangerous shot, saved by the Nigerian goalie
- 41:56 min.
- Balakov misses soooo closely the Nigerian goal after passing the goalie
- 44:45 min.
- Amokachi earns a foul just in front of the Bulgarian goal, but Okocha hits the wall
- Halftime
- Nigeria dominates overall, but Bulgaria had also its opportunities
- 50:00 min.
- Bulgaria dominates during the first minutes of the second half. However, no
real scoring opportunities are created. Nigeria counter-attacks.
- 60:00 min.
- More of the same... Kostadinov misses the few opportunities for Bulgaria
without creating any real danger for Nigeria.
- 65:45 min.
- Stoichkov misses the Nigerian goal from about 5 meters (yards) after a pass by
Kostadinov.
- 67:00 - 68:00 min.
- Kanu comes in for Amokachi in the Nigerian team. Penev comes in for Iliev for Bulgaria.
- 73:00 min.
- Balakov earns a free kick, then shoots by the wall and the goal. A dangerous
counter-attack results in a shot saved by Zdravkov.
- 76:45 min.
- Stoichkov hits the wall from a similar-position free kick
- 79:00 min.
- Kishishev gets his first WC'98 yellow card.
- 80:15 - 82:00 min.
- Bulgaria pressures Nigeria, but does not create scoring situations.
Zdravkov saves an extremely dangerous shot, another one was saved by a defender.
- 85:00 min.
- Sibstitutions in both teams. Batchev substitutes Yankov.
- 86:00 min.
- Kostadinov hits the cross bar !!! :-( No luck.
- 89:30 min.
- Yekini shoots over the top from a close range. Two min. of stoppage time are announced.
- Final score: 1:0
- Nigeria wins the game, probably Group D as well. Bulgaria still has a chance...
in theory.
Links
The France'98 message board is full of support for Bulgaria... and advice for the coach Bonev
to substitute Penev by Kostadinov in the starting line-up.
Located on the Official
World Cup '98 Site, this page has links to related news stories from
Agence France-Presse (AFP):
The page from the CNN/Sports Illustrated World Cup site
starts with a headline:
Rematch:
Bulgaria looking for some payback against Nigeria".
Soccernet also draws the parallel with World Cup 1994:
Another
shot at Nigeria.
The Reuters news reports related to the Bulgarian football team include:
ESPN Sportszone also provides some
news stories from Reuters.
The preview for the Bulgaria - Nigeria game also recalls USA'94:
Deja Vu.
Bulgaria given chance to avenge only blot on '94 Cup record
The page from Yahoo! has more news stories (mostly, from AP and AFP):
- World Cup Notebook:
Nigerian authorities have promised match bonuses of $15,000 to each player if the national team beats
Bulgaria in its second World Cup match.
- Kostadinov
in tug of war: Emil Kostadinov's desire for a Parc des Princes re-run against Nigeria
on Friday is causing a clash between Bulgaria's coach and captain.
- Stoichkov's
rage for perfection:
Hristo Stoichkov's rage for perfection may have mellowed a little as he approaches
his 33rd year but there's enough fire within to suggest a spirited finale in surely
his last World Cup.
- Kanu
and Amokachi available against Bulgaria:
Nwankwo Kanu and Daniel Amokachi have completely recovered from their problems and will be
available for Friday's match against Bulgaria, Nigerian physical trainer Marcelo Betencourt
revealed on Wednesday evening.
- Bulgaria
bring on the youth:
Bulgaria are set to add a youthfull touch to their aging side against Nigeria on Friday
in a bid to escape World Cup's "group of death."
The page has some original news stories by BBC:
Discussing the possible line-up, AP quotes the Bulgarian coach Bonev:
Iordanov will miss Nigeria game
- More information related to Bulgaria on this server available
here.
- More news about Bulgaria available here.
