Germany vs Nigeria: European giants commence run to final
Germany will be looking to start their run to the final as they face Nigeria in the round of 16 on Saturday.
Without sounding overconfident, die Nationalelf certainly will be happy with the pairing they received in the first knockout round. Nigeria struggled both against Norway and even France, despite narrowly losing 1-0 to Les Bleues, and their track record at the World Cup isn’t as great as their showings in Africa.
Furthermore, Nigeria infamously lost 8-0 to Germany, and have never beaten die Nationalelf. Although that humiliating result was back in November 2010, and that was during a friendly match, the odds really don’t work in the Super Falcons’ favor.
The African powerhouse come into this game in less-than-strong form. Nigeria have won just two of their last six games and both victories were against the likes of Thailand (3-0) and South Korea (2-0). The former, well, were beaten 13-0 by the USWNT on matchday one, and the latter failed to get off the mark this summer as they made a swift exit. Meanwhile, when pitted against stronger sides like Norway, France, Belgium, and Canada, the Super Falcons came up short.
Germany, by contrast, are unbeaten in their last six, with five wins and one draw. Although the no. 2 ranked side in the world have had their ups and downs in the past, they have been quite strong so far in France. Notably, they are the only team – other than the USA – to not just complete their group stage campaign with nine points out of nine, but more significant, not to concede a goal in the process.
The two-time World Cup winners also have shown they can grind out a gritty victory over a stubborn opponent – like they did against China, and also grab a decisive goal when it really counts – like they did against Spain, who many picked as their challengers for top spot. Against debutants South Africa, they cruised to an easy 4-0 win without breaking much of a sweat, but that’s not surprising as by matchday three, Germany had already secured their spot in the round of 16.
Nigeria, on the other hand, were not entirely assured of their fate until the dust settled in other groups. Thomas Dennerby will have some selection worries as he will be missing two players due to a ban: defender Ngozi Ebere and forward Rita Chikwelu. The former picked up a red card (two yellows) during Nigeria’s 1-0 loss to France, whilst the latter earned back to back yellows versus South Korea and France, and as a result, neither will be able to play in this round of 16 tie.
Germany, on the other hand, have a full-strength squad ready for this tie, and their defensive solidarity will pose a major problem for Nigeria’s attack, that’s for certain. Of course, we have all seen major upsets in football, with Russia beating Spain and Croatia making it to the 2018 World Cup – but it’s hard to see Nigeria joining that group of teams pulling off an unexpected result.
