Thursday, 17 June 2010 17:45
Well, that surprised me. Not the result, but a professional football player, in the finals of the World Cup, kicking out at another player and not expecting to get sent off. Up until that point, Nigeria were doing great and were winning, a game that would have been fantastic if they did win.
We had predicted a win for Nigeria and in the 16th minute they went one-nil up and looked on track for the three points but then, a moment of madness.
In the 33rd minutes, Nigeria's Sanu Kaita gets a bit touchy feely with Vassilis Torosidis after the ball went out of play and then, I'm not sure why, he kicked out at the other player. The other player went down and the referee showed him the red card.
He can have no complaints and well, I think he has just cost his country a place in the last 16 - not that we thought they were going, but they are not going now, not unless a miracle happens.
Nigeria got the equaliser eleven minutes later, a minute before half time and the winner in the 72nd minute. Game over, although Nigeria did have a couple of chances towards the end and they really should have scored one, but they didn't.
Greece
Tzorvas, Papadopoulos, Vyntra, Torosidis, Kyrgiakos, Papaststhopoulos (Samaras, 36), Tziolis, Karagounis (c), Katsouranis, Salpingidis, Gekas (Ninis, 79)
Nigeria
Enyeama, Yobo (c), Taiwo (Echiejile, 55 (Afolabi, 77)), Shittu, Odiah, Uche, Kaita, Haruna, Etuhu, Yakubu, Odemwingie (Obasi Ogbuke, 46)
World Cup 2010 Group B Table at Full Time
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Argentina |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
 South Korea |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 3 |
 Greece |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 3 |
 Nigeria |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 |
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Final World Cup 2010 Group Tables
A
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Uruguay |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
 Mexico |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
 South Africa |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 4 |
 France |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 1 |
B
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 |
| South Korea |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 4 |
| Greece |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 3 |
| Nigeria |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 1 |
C
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 United States |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
 England |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
 Slovenia |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
 Algeria |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 1 |
D
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Germany |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
 Ghana |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
 Australia |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -3 | 4 |
 Serbia |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 3 |
E
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Netherlands |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 |
 Japan |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
 Denmark |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 3 |
 Cameroon |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 0 |
F
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Paraguay |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
 Slovakia |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 4 |
 New Zealand |
3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
 Italy |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 2 |
G
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Brazil |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
 Portugal |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 5 |
 Ivory Coast |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
 Korea DPR |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -11 | 0 |
H
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Spain |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
 Chile |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
 Switzerland |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
 Honduras |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 1 |
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