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Nigeria 3-1 North Korea: Super Eagles Win Marred By Fan Stampede
Nigeria beat North Korea 3-1 in a friendly match ahead of the World Cup on Friday.
06-Jun-2010 9:59:00 PM
By Peter Pedroncelli
With both teams now in South Africa, a friendly was organised at the Makhulong Stadium in Thembisa. Nigeria is a popular team in Africa with a few World Cup appearances under their belt, while the North Koreans are participating in their second tournament.
Ahead of the match thousands of fans stampeded the gates outside the stadium, leaving several people injured. Several fans fell as others wearing Nigeria shirts ran on in an attempt to get inside the 10,000-seater stadium, which will play no part in staging the actual tournament.
The match commissioner stopped the game minutes into the second half after receiving a belated report, but finally allowed play to continue after four minutes. The Tembisa Stadium is nothing like those built or renovated for the World Cup. It has concrete terraces and is surrounded by a fence with gates and no turnstiles.
The game began at a slow pace, with Nigeria keen to study their Asian counterparts before they put pressure on them. North Korea struggled to penetrate the box, with most of their shots at goal coming from long distance and doing little to trouble the Africans.
The Nigerians were the first to get on the score sheet, with Everton striker Yakubu making it 1-0 to the African side. The score would remain that way until the hour mark, when Obinna made it 2-0 from the penalty spot.
Jong Tae Sae scored the goal for the Koreans with a strike from outside the box to make it 2-1 and gave some hope to the Asian representatives. That hope was dampened with the sending off of Jong Cha in the 82nd minute because of handling the ball.
With time running out, the Koreans tried to get back on level terms, but Nigeria dominated the play and kept the ball in their attacking half for long periods of play, putting pressure on their fellow World Cup opponents.
With the 90 minutes almost up, Nigeria sprinted towards goal, but the North Korean goalkeeper did well to stop the original threat. However, Nigeria's constant pressure paid off with a third goal after good work down the right led to a header from Obafemi Martins to cap off a positive match for the Super Eagles. The match finished 3-1 in favour of Nigeria.
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Ahead of the match thousands of fans stampeded the gates outside the stadium, leaving several people injured. Several fans fell as others wearing Nigeria shirts ran on in an attempt to get inside the 10,000-seater stadium, which will play no part in staging the actual tournament.
The match commissioner stopped the game minutes into the second half after receiving a belated report, but finally allowed play to continue after four minutes. The Tembisa Stadium is nothing like those built or renovated for the World Cup. It has concrete terraces and is surrounded by a fence with gates and no turnstiles.
The game began at a slow pace, with Nigeria keen to study their Asian counterparts before they put pressure on them. North Korea struggled to penetrate the box, with most of their shots at goal coming from long distance and doing little to trouble the Africans.
The Nigerians were the first to get on the score sheet, with Everton striker Yakubu making it 1-0 to the African side. The score would remain that way until the hour mark, when Obinna made it 2-0 from the penalty spot.
Jong Tae Sae scored the goal for the Koreans with a strike from outside the box to make it 2-1 and gave some hope to the Asian representatives. That hope was dampened with the sending off of Jong Cha in the 82nd minute because of handling the ball.
With time running out, the Koreans tried to get back on level terms, but Nigeria dominated the play and kept the ball in their attacking half for long periods of play, putting pressure on their fellow World Cup opponents.
With the 90 minutes almost up, Nigeria sprinted towards goal, but the North Korean goalkeeper did well to stop the original threat. However, Nigeria's constant pressure paid off with a third goal after good work down the right led to a header from Obafemi Martins to cap off a positive match for the Super Eagles. The match finished 3-1 in favour of Nigeria.
Become a fan of Goal.com India's Facebook fan page for all the latest news and insight into everything related to the beautiful game!
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