FRANCE 98 – Match preview n°51
Nigeria’s Super Eagles aim to take wing again after their ‘reserve’ team’s defeat by Paraguay which barely ruffled their feathers, when they face Denmark in the second round on Sunday at the Stade de France. If the Nigerians win they would become only the second African side ever to reach the World Cup quarter-finals after Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions in 1990.
Their prize would be a showpiece match in Nantes on July 3rd against Brazil, assuming the defending champions oust Chile on Saturday at the Parc des Princes.
“The boys are playing not just for themselves but for the whole continent,” says Nigeria’s coach Bora Milutinovic. With a clutch of players on one first round booking no longer under threat of suspension after missing the Paraguay encounter, the mood in the Africans’ camp is one of heady optimism. Milutinovic made seven changes for that match but now can take his pick from the squad.
Defender Taribo West, who has played in all three group games, believes his team has had the perfect draw.
“Although we’d be crazy to underestimate a team with players like the Laudrup brothers, from what I’ve seen so far the Danes will be easier to beat than the Spaniards or the Paraguayans,” said West, who plays his club football with Inter Milan.
“We will have to look out for their long balls as they play a very British-style game. But better to play them than France or even South Africa,” Nigeria’s key rivals in Africa, West said. The Nigerians’ only doubt for the match concerns the fitness of ex-Everton striker Daniel “The Bull” Amokachi, now of Turkey’s Besiktas, whose knee problem flared just before the Paraguay match and made him give way to Rashidi Yekini. Nigeria reached the second phase four years ago in the United States before losing out unluckily to Italy 2-1.
But Milutinovic, coaching his fourth country at a World Cup finals after Costa Rica, Mexico and the United States and never above a little kidology, says he’s already looking beyond Saturday to the quarter-finals.
“We’ve got a very important match coming up in Nantes,” he said, alluding to the hoped-for date with Brazil.
Reminded that the Denmark game was at the Stade de France in Saint Denis, Milutinovic grinned: ” I mean the match after Denmark.” Given the identity of players returning after missing the last match, with four on yellow cards or suspended and two injured, the wily Serb’s confidence isn’t misplaced. Players of the calibre of Jay-Jay Okocha, Victor Ikpeba, Mutiu Adepoju Uche Okechukwu, Finidi George and Celestine Babayaro would strengthen any team.
And that’s to say nothing of Amokachi – if fit the perfect foil to Monaco’s tricky Ikpeba – and Inter Milan’s Nwankwo Kanu, who has recovered from a stomach complaint.
Denmark, like the Nigerians, lost their final group match, 2-1 to France. But they had done just enough by edging Saudi Arabia and drawing with South Africa to qualify. Such a mixed bag of results gives little away as to the side’s true capabilities. But Bo Johansson, a Swede, is happy to play the underdog role if need be. “They will be the favourites and we will be the underdogs but that suits us Danes,” he smiled.
The Scandinavians will be missing the suspended Miklos Molnar, sent off just eight minutes after coming on as substitute against South Africa. But they do retain the wizardry of the Laudrup brothers Michael, their skipper, and Brian, on target from the spot against the French.
The Danes arrived in France following a run of poor form after defeats by Norway, Sweden and Cameroon. And despite qualifying from the group, they have yet to show they can pose a serious threat to the favourites. However, Michael Laudrup says the 1992 European champions are just coming to the boil. “We’re happy to have got through the group. Going still further, we would cause a real surprise but we believe we can reach the last eight. ”
The imposing figure of Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel is Denmark’s major hope of trying to keep the dangerous Nigerian forward line at bay, although he acknowledges that “there is plenty of room for improvement.”
In the absence of a recognised prolific goalscorer and Schmeichel aside, Denmark’s secret weapon could be the late 1900 GMT kickoff, safely avoiding the heat of the day.
Explains Johansson: “That’s a stroke of luck for us. Our other matches were played in the heat of the afternoon and we found that tough going, whereas the Nigerians don’t mind that at all. Evening conditions suit us far better.”