Confed Cup: Eagles Dream Against Spain

Super Eagles got the better of Tahiti\

By Olawale Ajimotokan

Nigeria will meet Spain Sunday in Fortaleza in the last Group B showdown at the FIFA Confederations Cup, with the players and officials believing the Eagles can gatecrash into the semi final if results go in their favour.

The African champions paid for their failure to convert a number of chances they created against Uruguay on Thursday in Salvador and were beaten 2-1 to cool whatever hope they still nurse in reaching the semi final.

Goals by Diego Lugano and Diego Forlan gave the South Americans the cushion to overcome Nigeria, whose goal was scored by John Mikel Obi.

Spain are already guaranteed of a berth to the semi final with victories over Uruguay and Tahiti in the last two group matches.

Fernerdo Torres and David Villa who will be on duty against the Eagles accounted for seven of the goals against Tahiti in a hit and smash display.

But the business is not over for the the world champions who will aim to make light of Nigeria and avenge for the 3-2 loss inflicted on them by the Africans in their epic classic at the 1998 World Cup in France.

Eagles captain Vincent Enyeama said Nigeria hopes to recover from the setback in Salvador and enjoy the occasion against Spain.

''We are sad at the loss to Uruguay but we want to move on and enjoy our match against Spain. We are proud of the way we played against Uruguay and the entertainment we gave for the fans.

"When we meet Spain we should build on those positives because in football anything is possible. We can beat Spain because we think we can still make progress in this tournament," Enyeama said.

His view was echoed by Portugal-based midfielder, John Ogu who tasked his team mates to raise the  tempo and convert their chances as the world champions are beatable.

''I believe we can beat Spain and hope that at the end of it all the calculations will still work in our favour. But we have to take our chances because failure to do so cost us the match against Uruguay," Ogu said.

The same positive view was echoed by Eagles coach Stephen Keshi, who believed Nigeria can inflict a second defeat on Spain.

"Of course we do have a chance, until the end of the 90 minutes you can't tell what is going to happen. I can't question their commitment and loyalty. They did everything against Uruguay," Keshi said.

Beating Spain with a comfortable margin will amount to asking for too much from Nigeria, as Uruguay will most likely out-gun Tahiti in the other corresponding group fixture in Recife.

Inspite of the loss to the Uruguayans, Nigeria was prayed to high heavens by Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez and have have won the hearts of Brazilian public, who rooted for the West Africans and jeered at their South American neighbours.

''Nigeria is a good side that play modern football. They are skillful and boast of good and fast players who like to play the ball around. But we tried to control them by not committing too many players into their halve, as they would catch us on the counter," Tabarez said.

North Eastern city of Salvador has a very large black community, with many of the people tracing roots to Africa during the trans Atlantic Slave trade.

They were warm to Nigeria whose every good move they cheered.

''Nigeria play attractive football. They were good to watch against Uruguay, but that is football where sometime anything that goes wrong defies explanation," said Da Silva.

Group B Table
P W D L F A Pts
Spain 2 2 0 0 12 1 6
Nigeria 2 1 0 1 7 3 3
Uruguay 2 1 0 1 3 3 3
Tahiti 2 0 0 2 1 16 0