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Messi at the Maracana. Let us hope this does what it says on the tin. | :01:00. | :01:12. | |
And he dances away. That is what they came for. | :01:13. | :01:25. | |
Good evening. It took a while but Lionel Messi lit up the Maracana | :01:26. | :01:32. | |
last night and got Argentina off to a winning start in Group F. C what | :01:33. | :01:42. | |
the African champions have got. -- let others see what the African | :01:43. | :01:43. | |
champions have got. What an introduction to a World Cup | :01:44. | :01:59. | |
football. It certainly was a pretty unusual celebration near, John. | :02:00. | :02:08. | |
Daniel Amokachi, still Daniel Amokachi, brilliant run. What a | :02:09. | :02:15. | |
fantastic tool. And Nigeria take the lead against Argentina. Nigeria take | :02:16. | :02:29. | |
the lead against Italy. Terrific goal. What a good strike! Nigeria | :02:30. | :02:41. | |
have beaten Spain. Nigeria have failed to get out of | :02:42. | :02:54. | |
the group stage since the heady days of the 90s. The coach Stephen | :02:55. | :03:01. | |
Keshi, the captain in the 1990 World Cup, will hope that the Super Eagles | :03:02. | :03:06. | |
get off to a flying chart -- flying start against Iran. Colour skiers | :03:07. | :03:13. | |
has been frustrated by poor preparation and a lack of quality | :03:14. | :03:17. | |
opposition in the build-up to this World Cup. Carlos Queiroz. You were | :03:18. | :03:27. | |
in the Maracana last night, Argentina are the overwhelming | :03:28. | :03:30. | |
favourites to win this group, it must have been special? It was | :03:31. | :03:34. | |
unbelievable and I spoke to you yesterday about it. I can tell my | :03:35. | :03:38. | |
grandchildren that I have seen Messi in the Maracana. He struggled early | :03:39. | :03:44. | |
on but he gradually found his feet when they change the system in the | :03:45. | :03:49. | |
second half. He was under immense pressure and look like that in the | :03:50. | :03:52. | |
first half. He had to feel his way into the game. This is in the first | :03:53. | :04:00. | |
game. He has still got those two teams today to come up against. He | :04:01. | :04:08. | |
must be licking his lips. It has been a creature of the tournament so | :04:09. | :04:11. | |
far that the best players have turned up. It is a pity that Rinaldo | :04:12. | :04:21. | |
did not do it today. Bosnia were pretty impressive in that game, | :04:22. | :04:27. | |
Newell, we sat and watched it. You would think they would be favourites | :04:28. | :04:31. | |
along with Argentina to go through. They had good -- they had a good | :04:32. | :04:38. | |
qualifying campaign. Speaking about toddlers, they will not picking -- | :04:39. | :04:43. | |
putting too much emphasis on the Argentina result are looking towards | :04:44. | :04:48. | |
Nigeria and Iran. It does look like it is about who will finish second | :04:49. | :04:57. | |
in the script. Nigeria have got quick men up front. Victor Moses, I | :04:58. | :05:03. | |
know him well. They are backed up with a very good goalkeeper. 21 | :05:04. | :05:10. | |
clean sheets this season. With that pace up front they will be a threat. | :05:11. | :05:15. | |
Letters find out more about Nigeria's opponents Iran. | :05:16. | :05:24. | |
Iran might be ranked as Asia's best team but | :05:25. | :05:25. | |
Iran might be ranked as Asia's best team expectations are low as they | :05:26. | :05:29. | |
make the fourth appearance in the World Cup finals. Their manager has | :05:30. | :05:33. | |
described the campaign in Brazil as a mission impossible. Their | :05:34. | :05:38. | |
preparation hampered by a lack of quality opposition. Iran have won | :05:39. | :05:44. | |
only once in the previous appearances, in the most politically | :05:45. | :05:50. | |
charged fixture ever against the USA and France 1998. If Iran are to | :05:51. | :05:56. | |
qualify from the group they will have to do so by playing defensive, | :05:57. | :06:01. | |
counter attacking football. They kept ten clean sheets in qualifying, | :06:02. | :06:05. | |
more than any other nation. The struggle at the other end of the | :06:06. | :06:18. | |
field. As we have seen, Iran are coached by | :06:19. | :06:26. | |
Carlos Queiroz, familiar to both Rio Ferdinand and Phil Neville from the | :06:27. | :06:33. | |
attainment Manchester United. -- from the time at Manchester United. | :06:34. | :06:45. | |
To play any second World Cup in the land of football, in the country | :06:46. | :06:52. | |
that football is in the veins, I am glad to have that opportunity. When | :06:53. | :06:57. | |
you're riding the World Cup, the games are difficult, it does not | :06:58. | :07:03. | |
matter if it is against Argentina, Nigeria, anything can happen. I used | :07:04. | :07:15. | |
to say that we crossed held during the qualifying period and now it is | :07:16. | :07:25. | |
heaven, it is time to enjoy. -- hell. Reaching the second stage is | :07:26. | :07:36. | |
the only way to bring joy, or not and pressed each to the fans in | :07:37. | :07:56. | |
Iran. -- honour and prestige. He came to Manchester United and nobody | :07:57. | :08:00. | |
knew anything about him. He shouted at Ryan Giggs to get the ball now. | :08:01. | :08:06. | |
People were impressed. Good job he did not pick Roy Keane! He is | :08:07. | :08:13. | |
annoyed with the fact that everybody is ignoring his side. That is his | :08:14. | :08:18. | |
competitive edge that comes through. He was like that with us. | :08:19. | :08:26. | |
He took care of all the details. Some managers will give you | :08:27. | :08:32. | |
nicknames, Giggs, Ferdinand, Neville, you will do what I am | :08:33. | :08:37. | |
saying and it is now changing. He was fantastic for us. He laid a lot | :08:38. | :08:47. | |
of the foundations for our success. More of a number two than the number | :08:48. | :08:51. | |
one? That is what was always levelled against him. He has not | :08:52. | :08:58. | |
done well as a number one so far. More on the match tonight later but | :08:59. | :09:01. | |
one game has been played already today when Germany met Portugal. | :09:02. | :09:09. | |
Too familiar foes going head-to-head in the lunchtime heat. Germany with | :09:10. | :09:16. | |
three wins over Portugal in three major tournaments before this one. | :09:17. | :09:27. | |
What a mistake and what a mess! What an escape for Portugal. -- a miss. | :09:28. | :09:42. | |
That bill came to leave for Germany. Has he been brought down? Yes, he | :09:43. | :09:49. | |
has. He went down under pressure from the Portuguese full-back. It is | :09:50. | :09:59. | |
Thomas Muller now for Germany, 1-0. 11 minutes played and Thomas Miller | :10:00. | :10:03. | |
has scored. He starts where he left off four years ago in South Africa. | :10:04. | :10:25. | |
Germany have to settle for a corner. The defender was able to stretch and | :10:26. | :10:37. | |
get his body in the way. And that is 2-0 for Germany. What a header. Just | :10:38. | :10:44. | |
over half an hour played and it is a commanding lead for Germany. | :10:45. | :11:00. | |
He could be in a spot of bother as he caught Thomas Muller in the | :11:01. | :11:07. | |
face. Judging by his reaction he clearly did not think so. Thomas | :11:08. | :11:13. | |
Muller is squaring up to him and he is sent off. No stranger to | :11:14. | :11:19. | |
controversy during his career. Thomas Muller went down as if he had | :11:20. | :11:24. | |
been punched flush in the face which was far from the case. Pepe, with | :11:25. | :11:29. | |
that overreaction, incurred the wrath of the referee. Not a great | :11:30. | :11:33. | |
start to the World Cup for Portugal. It is 3-0. Thomas Miller is the. | :11:34. | :11:56. | |
This game looked all over already. The half-time whistle has not even | :11:57. | :12:03. | |
born. The top score from four years ago has got two goals in the first | :12:04. | :12:07. | |
45 minutes. Portugal have got a massive headache. | :12:08. | :12:37. | |
Muller has got a hat-trick. He has got a habit of being in the right | :12:38. | :12:40. | |
place at the right time and he certainly was here. That was on a | :12:41. | :12:47. | |
plate from the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper could only parry it | :12:48. | :12:55. | |
straight out to the German forward. Germany 4-0 Portugal. | :12:56. | :13:02. | |
Remarkable that this is the fourth successive time that Germany have | :13:03. | :13:07. | |
started a World Cup campaign by scoring four goals or more. Germany | :13:08. | :13:14. | |
played Dan on Saturday Wells Portugal meet the USA one day later. | :13:15. | :13:31. | |
-- Ghana. The game was over at half-time. We were talking about the | :13:32. | :13:38. | |
fact that you had to pass the ball to Rinaldo to get a shot off. The | :13:39. | :13:46. | |
day went to bad -- the day went from bad to worse. If I was defending I | :13:47. | :13:52. | |
felt it was harsh. In real time, I felt it was a strict -- a penalty | :13:53. | :13:59. | |
straight away. He got his arm a little bit, there always will be | :14:00. | :14:07. | |
contact, but not enough to go down. This is the red card incident. What | :14:08. | :14:15. | |
team you make of this? He was sent off for his reaction. How many times | :14:16. | :14:20. | |
have we seen this from Pepe? It did not surprise us. He is a time bomb | :14:21. | :14:25. | |
waiting to go off. You cannot do it on a football pitch. The intent was | :14:26. | :14:30. | |
there. It was a little bit of a touch but he did not go down | :14:31. | :14:35. | |
injured. He was clearly annoyed by the reaction from the first incident | :14:36. | :14:40. | |
but you cannot react like that. He let his team-mates down. They are | :14:41. | :14:45. | |
down to ten men now. They were struggling with the situation they | :14:46. | :14:49. | |
were in. He will not play now. It must drive you potty when one of you | :14:50. | :14:54. | |
players does that wish to mark if it was me I would be going through them | :14:55. | :14:57. | |
like a hot knife through butter. It is disgraceful. He has let his | :14:58. | :15:06. | |
country down. He is a big player for Portugal and it is not the first | :15:07. | :15:10. | |
time that we have seen this from Pepe. He is a big player for the | :15:11. | :15:14. | |
Portugal squad and they will have to do without them. We have been | :15:15. | :15:20. | |
discussing about how teams have been marking from corners. The zonal | :15:21. | :15:23. | |
marking was adopted by Portugal and it did not work. It is so important, | :15:24. | :15:32. | |
the second line. They cannot have a run on the | :15:33. | :15:42. | |
centre-backs. They have got to affect the run of Mats Hummels, not | :15:43. | :15:45. | |
let him jump like that. It is so easy when you get a run on the | :15:46. | :15:49. | |
defenders, to jump on this site as a central defender, it is impossible | :15:50. | :15:52. | |
to mark. The second line of defence has such an important job to do. How | :15:53. | :15:57. | |
do you prefer to defend from corners? Do you prefer to get tight | :15:58. | :15:59. | |
to the man? What we used to do at Manchester | :16:00. | :16:11. | |
United, was marking a man. Zonal marking just kills me. All you are | :16:12. | :16:15. | |
doing is saying, "this is my area, and if someone comes in over year, | :16:16. | :16:20. | |
it is not my area". There are too many grey areas. You are marking a | :16:21. | :16:25. | |
man, and that is it. We did a zonal marking a lot at Celtic. LAUGHTER | :16:26. | :16:31. | |
For me, it is Pepe's full because he is outjumped by Mats Hummels but | :16:32. | :16:34. | |
Phil Neville is right, there should have been somebody tried to put of | :16:35. | :16:37. | |
Mats Hummels but once it is in the area, Pepe has to go. You are not | :16:38. | :16:43. | |
still Celtic manager. You have no interest whatsoever to Rio! Thomas | :16:44. | :16:46. | |
Muller won the Golden Boot four years ago. No one has won it twice | :16:47. | :16:53. | |
in succession. He schools proper goals, this fellow. I like them. -- | :16:54. | :16:56. | |
he schools. When you seem on the team sheet, you | :16:57. | :17:06. | |
does not strike fear into you as a defender. When the ball falls in the | :17:07. | :17:10. | |
box, he's on to it like a flash and he is clinical, though. He put his | :17:11. | :17:14. | |
head down and smashes the ball anywhere, as long as it is on target | :17:15. | :17:18. | |
and invariably it goes in the back of the net. He does not get involved | :17:19. | :17:22. | |
in the build-up. Sometimes you can let him have the ball because | :17:23. | :17:25. | |
technically, views not that great. But when it comes in the box, as | :17:26. | :17:29. | |
Manchester United talk he's different. He is not an out and out | :17:30. | :17:34. | |
centre forward. But he is a team player and makes runs for other | :17:35. | :17:37. | |
people, into areas, pulls you around, will take you into the | :17:38. | :17:40. | |
corner, knowing that another player will be running from deep into the | :17:41. | :17:44. | |
midfield, into the space you have left. He is very cute like that, | :17:45. | :17:49. | |
very intelligent. Years one of the number of the star goal-scorers who | :17:50. | :17:53. | |
have got off to a decent start. This is the Golden Boot graphic, already | :17:54. | :17:56. | |
plenty of goals and some big names at the top of the board. Fantastic, | :17:57. | :18:02. | |
that is what you want from the World Cup. The top players in Europe and | :18:03. | :18:06. | |
the world and Messi just warming up nicely after last night as well. And | :18:07. | :18:12. | |
Sturridge as well. We'll have live coverage of Ghana against the USA | :18:13. | :18:19. | |
later tonight. Kick-off is approaching into Redeemer and the | :18:20. | :18:23. | |
atmosphere is building. Let's hear from the Nigerian camp. | :18:24. | :18:29. | |
We are the Super Eagles of Nigeria. My dream is to build a strong team | :18:30. | :18:41. | |
for Nigeria. He has brought a lot to the team. From the way we used to | :18:42. | :18:47. | |
play before, now we play a bit more like the European style. We are very | :18:48. | :18:50. | |
organised when we don't have the ball and very effective when we do. | :18:51. | :18:55. | |
We know exactly what is coming. It is up to us if we are ready or not. | :18:56. | :19:01. | |
I think this team right now, we are very united. We have a good team. | :19:02. | :19:06. | |
All the players are like brothers. We have been together, off the pitch | :19:07. | :19:10. | |
and on the pitch, we think as one, we move as one, we talk and do | :19:11. | :19:18. | |
everything together. We have a very good coach and I'm sure they have | :19:19. | :19:24. | |
some quality good players. It is going to be tough, they are very | :19:25. | :19:27. | |
together, they play together as a team and teams like that are | :19:28. | :19:33. | |
difficult to beat. We have to be focused. We have to concentrate and | :19:34. | :19:37. | |
do our jobs. We cannot take Iran likely. They are not going to take | :19:38. | :19:42. | |
us lightly. We have to go out with everything that we have. We have to | :19:43. | :19:47. | |
find a way. The first game is the key. The first game is important and | :19:48. | :19:51. | |
we want to get off to a winning start so hopefully we can do that. | :19:52. | :19:57. | |
There will be a lot of expectation in Africa Nigeria. They are the | :19:58. | :20:01. | |
champions of Africa as well. Have they got what it takes to progress | :20:02. | :20:07. | |
in this competition? After seeing Bosnia yesterday, it is going to be | :20:08. | :20:10. | |
tough but they have someone like John Obi Mikel, who is experienced, | :20:11. | :20:13. | |
and the other players can look to him to try to lead them into the | :20:14. | :20:17. | |
next stage. He has played a lot of football at the top level in | :20:18. | :20:20. | |
Europe. He has got the responsibility to drive them through | :20:21. | :20:26. | |
if he can. It means a lot to the players, of course, Phil. They have | :20:27. | :20:31. | |
got bags of pace up front, for sure. I watched the warm up game against | :20:32. | :20:34. | |
Greece a couple of weeks ago, and the lad on the right, he can catch | :20:35. | :20:39. | |
pigeons. The lad up front is big and powerful, and we know about Victor | :20:40. | :20:42. | |
Moses. They will play direct and they are young and have lots of | :20:43. | :20:48. | |
energy. Hopefully you will get an exciting Nigeria team tonight. At | :20:49. | :20:54. | |
Celtic, you had Efe Ambrose. What is he like? Terrific. He came in and | :20:55. | :21:00. | |
was a revelation, particularly in Europe. We played him at centre-half | :21:01. | :21:05. | |
but he will play right back for Nigeria predominantly. They will be | :21:06. | :21:07. | |
expecting him to make galloping runs, overlaps, putting in great | :21:08. | :21:12. | |
crosses. The defensive structure of Nigeria has improved a lot. -- they | :21:13. | :21:23. | |
will not be expecting him. Emmanuel Emenike is really thing you want in | :21:24. | :21:29. | |
a centre forward as well. -- has everything. They will be | :21:30. | :21:34. | |
straightforward, 4-4-1-1, Iran, they will be disciplined, the two lads in | :21:35. | :21:38. | |
midfield will sit in, and Alnwick and Nekounam and they will look to | :21:39. | :21:42. | |
counter through the fun to after Jagger and Ghoochannejhad. They have | :21:43. | :21:45. | |
got speed but apart from that, they will be the best organised team in | :21:46. | :21:48. | |
the tournament because that is Carlos Queiroz's strength. We know | :21:49. | :21:52. | |
Ashkan Dejagah, because we have seen him at Fulham. He has scored some | :21:53. | :21:57. | |
decent goals this season. Definitely, he does not mind taking | :21:58. | :22:02. | |
on shots from crazy angles. In a tournament like this when people | :22:03. | :22:04. | |
don't necessarily know much about you, if you have a surprise like | :22:05. | :22:08. | |
that in your locker, you can become a star out of nothing. As Phil said, | :22:09. | :22:12. | |
Carlos Queiroz will have them set up very solid, but able to | :22:13. | :22:18. | |
counterattack. We don't expect them to be whipping boys, then? Not with | :22:19. | :22:23. | |
a man like Carlos Queiroz in charge. They will be very well conditioned | :22:24. | :22:28. | |
as well. Iranians teams in the past, they have gone the distance in | :22:29. | :22:31. | |
the games, and they will be well drilled. -- Iranians teams. They | :22:32. | :22:38. | |
will all be desperate to get off to a good start. Definitely, the nerves | :22:39. | :22:43. | |
will be jangling and they just want to get out there, get a touch of the | :22:44. | :22:47. | |
ball, see what the World Cup is all about, what it feels like. Once they | :22:48. | :22:51. | |
get that, they can calm down and get on with it and start playing normal | :22:52. | :22:55. | |
football but this is a huge moment for their players. The countries | :22:56. | :22:57. | |
back home are looking at them and expectations will be high because | :22:58. | :23:01. | |
they wait. They will want to produce. These kind of tournaments | :23:02. | :23:09. | |
can make and break reputations. They can and they are in a tough group. | :23:10. | :23:12. | |
This is the most important game for these two countries. If they win it, | :23:13. | :23:15. | |
they have a chance to get through and if not, they are struggling with | :23:16. | :23:18. | |
Bosnia and Argentina still to come. We have not had a draw so far which | :23:19. | :23:21. | |
is remarkable, and plenty of goals. I'm not sure this will be a goalless | :23:22. | :23:25. | |
draw but I think Iran would take it. I think they would. It is an | :23:26. | :23:29. | |
important game for both of them in the context of the group. But | :23:30. | :23:33. | |
particularly if Emmanuel Emenike is on form, I fancy them to get a | :23:34. | :23:39. | |
couple of goals. It is Irani gets Nigeria, with Argentina in this | :23:40. | :23:42. | |
group. A win for either could prove crucial. Let's join the commentators | :23:43. | :23:45. | |
into redeemer, Kevin Kilbane and Steve Bower. -- in Curitiba. | :23:46. | :23:54. | |
COMMENTATOR: Neither team has won a World Cup match for 16 years. If | :23:55. | :24:00. | |
they could break that record, it would give them a fighting chance of | :24:01. | :24:04. | |
qualifying. There's a carnival atmosphere waiting for both of these | :24:05. | :24:09. | |
nations here in southern Brazil. The first game of the World Cup finals | :24:10. | :24:16. | |
in this stadium. We have seen many different nations outside the | :24:17. | :24:19. | |
ground. It is a huge occasion for the fanatical footballing nation of | :24:20. | :24:23. | |
Iran, who play on this stage for the first time since 2006. Still, | :24:24. | :24:30. | |
really, arriving here as something of an unknown quantity. As we have | :24:31. | :24:37. | |
been saying, we should await expect the unexpected of the African | :24:38. | :24:44. | |
champions Tom and Nigeria. -- champions, Nigeria. They know the | :24:45. | :24:54. | |
importance of it. Particularly with the two fixtures that are lying in | :24:55. | :24:58. | |
wait, as we pause for the national anthems. Ladies and gentlemen, | :24:59. | :25:02. | |
please stand for the national anthem of Irani. -- Iran. | :25:03. | :25:11. | |
And now, the national anthem of Nigeria! | :25:12. | :26:19. | |
Deafening noise inside this stadium. It was only officially completed | :26:20. | :27:16. | |
last month. Unofficially, it might well have been yesterday. It has | :27:17. | :27:19. | |
been a race against time for this day, ever since the World Cup was | :27:20. | :27:29. | |
awarded to Brazil. Curitiba hosting Iran and Nigeria. They are both well | :27:30. | :27:36. | |
aware of the importance of this result in this group. Iran have an | :27:37. | :27:45. | |
experienced squad with 11 players aged 30 or over, six of them based | :27:46. | :27:50. | |
in Europe. Most recognisable to us, Ashkan Dejagah awful, a previous | :27:51. | :27:55. | |
European U21 winner with Germany, one of many persuaded by Carlos | :27:56. | :27:58. | |
Queiroz to switch allegiance in the last couple of years. Reza | :27:59. | :28:08. | |
Ghoochannejhad of Charlton has scored 14 since making his debut. | :28:09. | :28:13. | |
Andranik Teymourian, once of Bolton, briefly awful, is the heartbeat of | :28:14. | :28:16. | |
the team. And alongside him, the captain, Javad Nekounam. -- briefly | :28:17. | :28:24. | |
of Fulham. The official tonight is from Ecuador, the 37-year-old Carlos | :28:25. | :28:31. | |
Vera, who boasts seven years on the international stage. | :28:32. | :28:37. | |
Vincent and Nemo, the goalkeeper, is Nigeria's captain. -- Vincent | :28:38. | :28:43. | |
Enyeama. Nigeria themselves only have three | :28:44. | :29:01. | |
players who play in their own country but they do have the core of | :29:02. | :29:04. | |
the squad that won the Africa cup of Nations last year. John Obi Mikel | :29:05. | :29:09. | |
was Man of the Match in that final and he wins his 60th cap today. | :29:10. | :29:13. | |
Young centre-back Kenneth Omeruo will also be of interest to Chelsea | :29:14. | :29:17. | |
fans because he has just been handed a new long-term contract after an | :29:18. | :29:20. | |
impressive loan spell at Middlesbrough this season. He is in | :29:21. | :29:24. | |
a back for that also includes Efe Ambrose of Celtic. Victor Moses is | :29:25. | :29:30. | |
firmly first choice, offering a threat down the left, aiming to | :29:31. | :29:37. | |
supply Emmanuel Emenike who was their top scorer in qualifying. | :29:38. | :29:43. | |
Nigeria finished bottom of their group in South Africa, four years | :29:44. | :29:49. | |
ago. Iran have only ever won one World Cup match. Carlos Queiroz | :29:50. | :29:54. | |
certainly hoping that changes in this tournament, ideally today. The | :29:55. | :30:14. | |
The expectation is for Nigeria in this one. It will be run on the | :30:15. | :30:26. | |
world stage for the first time in 2006. -- Iran. We don't know what to | :30:27. | :30:45. | |
expect from both sides. We expect Iran to be very organised and they | :30:46. | :30:51. | |
have to win this game if they want to get out of the group. They will | :30:52. | :30:56. | |
have been watching Bosnia and Argentina last night who are very | :30:57. | :31:00. | |
strong sides. These two are the weakest teams in the group. | :31:01. | :31:10. | |
That was a foul on Ambrose. Dejagah was the offender. Only Elvis will | :31:11. | :31:21. | |
these players be? It is worse in the tunnel just before the game. That | :31:22. | :31:37. | |
was delivered into the sky by the most experienced player on the | :31:38. | :31:53. | |
pitch, Nekounam. Joseph Yobo is amongst the substitutes for Nigeria | :31:54. | :31:54. | |
tonight. The former Everton player. You can see straight away that Iran | :31:55. | :32:16. | |
are defending very deep and they are not allowing any hang them for the | :32:17. | :32:20. | |
Nigerian forward because of the peace they have got upfront. -- not | :32:21. | :32:30. | |
allowing any space for the Nigerian forwards. | :32:31. | :32:39. | |
They have had far from ideal preparation for the scheme. They | :32:40. | :32:48. | |
qualified 364 days ago and since then they have only played five warm | :32:49. | :32:55. | |
up games. For 119 days they did not play a game together. They had no | :32:56. | :33:08. | |
real quality opposition. That was Victor Moses going for gold. He did | :33:09. | :33:13. | |
not quite catch that. He picked up the ball and looked to drive at the | :33:14. | :33:15. | |
defence. He did not get hold of it. One of the assistance for Nigeria is | :33:16. | :33:47. | |
Daniel Amokachi. was expecting Dejagah to play up | :33:48. | :34:43. | |
front but he is on the left, a role he was familiar with at Fulham. | :34:44. | :34:57. | |
He does not come into the tournament in good form. | :34:58. | :35:29. | |
I would expect Nigeria to have most of the ball. They are not scared to | :35:30. | :35:40. | |
hit those diagonal passes. They are looking for Emunike. | :35:41. | :35:52. | |
That was a good challenge by Heydari. We will not sure what to | :35:53. | :36:07. | |
expect from the city when they arrived in the stadium yesterday but | :36:08. | :36:11. | |
we are pleasantly surprise. Fantastic atmosphere. | :36:12. | :36:31. | |
The Chelsea player is given more licence to get forward at country | :36:32. | :36:35. | |
level than he is at club level. That was blocked by Montazeri. The | :36:36. | :36:54. | |
first corner of the game is Nigeria's. Nigeria are attacking the | :36:55. | :37:01. | |
right back. That is the avenue they are trying to go through. Trying to | :37:02. | :37:11. | |
get behind the defence. John Obi Mikel is in the thick of it. It will | :37:12. | :37:17. | |
be taken by Victor Moses. The goalkeeper did not get the first | :37:18. | :37:21. | |
time but the referee 's whistle has gone. It will not count. Quite a few | :37:22. | :37:26. | |
of the supporters did not hear the whistle. The most relieved man in | :37:27. | :37:32. | |
the stadium is Haghighi. He did not look comfortable. John Obi Mikel | :37:33. | :37:41. | |
went in there and it was not a lot in that. | :37:42. | :37:55. | |
He is trying to do his defence is a favour by coming out to clear up | :37:56. | :38:04. | |
what it was pure goalkeeping. I wonder if Nigeria think they can | :38:05. | :38:05. | |
exploit that. Again it is the Hosseini -- again it | :38:06. | :38:45. | |
is Hosseini who got cot out. Excellent play from Emunike. It was | :38:46. | :38:56. | |
Onazi with the shot. It was behind him and he could not get hold of it. | :38:57. | :39:10. | |
It is Hosseini who is getting exploited at the moment. There is | :39:11. | :39:16. | |
some concern for the Lazio midfielder. He is getting some | :39:17. | :39:25. | |
treatment. Carlos queer is using the opportunity to have worked with some | :39:26. | :39:48. | |
his players. -- Queiroz. That was a chance. Bodies around for Iran. He | :39:49. | :39:55. | |
did not get hold of it. Nigeria will hope that Onazi is OK because he is | :39:56. | :40:06. | |
a very important player for them. He played in the under 17 World Cup a | :40:07. | :40:10. | |
few years ago and it was those performances that got him a move to | :40:11. | :40:12. | |
Lazio in Italy. The good news for Nigeria is that | :40:13. | :40:29. | |
Onazi is back on his feet. He will need to come back on. It is an | :40:30. | :40:37. | |
important spell for Iran to try to contain Nigeria for the early parts | :40:38. | :40:38. | |
of the scheme. Visitor striker is allowed back on | :40:39. | :41:32. | |
and he is straight back on the ball. -- Onazi. | :41:33. | :42:22. | |
Carlos Queiroz is looking very concerned. Victor Moses did not | :42:23. | :42:35. | |
quite keep it going. Iran are struggling on this right-hand side. | :42:36. | :42:38. | |
Really struggling to contain the pace of Moses. Moses was driving at | :42:39. | :42:55. | |
Montazeri. Iran, who have qualified for the fourth World Cup, the first | :42:56. | :43:01. | |
back at Argentina in 1978 when the famously drew with Scotland, have | :43:02. | :43:06. | |
managed to take a point from each of the three campaigns. They feel if | :43:07. | :43:15. | |
the other get something from the group this will be the match that | :43:16. | :43:20. | |
they will do it. They have to get three points from the scheme to get | :43:21. | :43:24. | |
that chance. Watching those two last night, two very top sides. Bosnia | :43:25. | :43:31. | |
should expect to finish second in that group. This is an opportunity | :43:32. | :43:41. | |
for Iran. They have been practising a lot. | :43:42. | :43:48. | |
That could be at the chance, set plays. They will find themselves | :43:49. | :43:55. | |
defending very deep at times and it is difficult to get out. When they | :43:56. | :43:59. | |
do have set plays they have to capitalise on them. | :44:00. | :44:12. | |
He signed a contract with Chelsea, visitor centre, -- Omeruo, but he | :44:13. | :44:22. | |
has been out on loan. the Nigerian midfield. They are | :44:23. | :44:48. | |
interchanging positions and getting forward when they can. Nigeria had | :44:49. | :45:00. | |
never been farther than the last 16 in the World Cup finals. This is the | :45:01. | :45:15. | |
fifth tournament. Shinnie were does have a long throw in his repertoire. | :45:16. | :45:16. | |
-- Oshaniwa. Both managers are at the moment in | :45:17. | :45:37. | |
their technical areas. -- are up. Nigeria have had the majority of the | :45:38. | :45:38. | |
possession. John Obi Mikel, of course, missed | :45:39. | :45:59. | |
the World Cup, four years ago, injured the week before. It was | :46:00. | :46:02. | |
heartbreak in terms of that tournament. He is a key figure in | :46:03. | :46:06. | |
this Nigerian team. Certainly, what her diary has got to | :46:07. | :46:26. | |
do on the right for Iraqis get back and help his full-back out. -- | :46:27. | :46:37. | |
Heydari. Ghoochanneijhad, understandably, a little isolated | :46:38. | :46:41. | |
every time Irani clear the ball. It is important when the ball comes | :46:42. | :46:45. | |
into him, he has got to make it stick and allow his team-mates to | :46:46. | :46:47. | |
get up in support of him. He's not doing that at the moment. | :46:48. | :47:19. | |
That was a more confident take from Haghighi. Pour from Ashkan Dejagah, | :47:20. | :47:34. | |
backtracking Ambrose, allowing him to skip inside. You have to try to | :47:35. | :47:41. | |
prevent the cross, get yourself out and close him down. Don't allow him | :47:42. | :47:51. | |
to skip inside you. They have been no tourist Lee well drilled and well | :47:52. | :47:54. | |
organised under Carlos Queiroz come Iran, keeping ten clean sheet in 16 | :47:55. | :47:59. | |
qualifying games. Although the standard of opposition in Brazil | :48:00. | :48:02. | |
will be a considerable step up for them. In fact, since Carlos Queiroz | :48:03. | :48:07. | |
took over, they have not played any team in the top 48 in the world. | :48:08. | :48:13. | |
That is half the battle, isn't it? You are not playing against quality | :48:14. | :48:17. | |
opposition. The centre-half, Hosseini, said that recently, there | :48:18. | :48:21. | |
is no quality of opposition in those friendlies that they can test | :48:22. | :48:27. | |
themselves against. That is what they need, coming to the World Cup. | :48:28. | :48:31. | |
Carlos Gross feels he has moved Iranians football on since the took | :48:32. | :48:38. | |
charge. In 2011, he worked long and hard to persuade the country's | :48:39. | :48:41. | |
authorities to end the domestic season early in April, to help their | :48:42. | :48:50. | |
World Cup preparations. -- Carlos Queiroz feels. | :48:51. | :49:16. | |
There was no advantage, and the Ecuadorian referee signals a Nigeria | :49:17. | :49:23. | |
free kick. Iran are camped in their own half at the moment. They can't | :49:24. | :49:26. | |
get out. Continued pressure by Nigeria. | :49:27. | :49:43. | |
This time, it is Oboabona who requires treatment for Nigeria. A | :49:44. | :49:50. | |
carnival atmosphere. No complaints inside this stadium. The Nigerians | :49:51. | :49:56. | |
always add to that. We have witnessed that around the ground, | :49:57. | :50:00. | |
today. A great atmosphere, building a few hours before the game. The | :50:01. | :50:08. | |
Iranians contributing as well. There is some concern, here, for Oboabona. | :50:09. | :50:21. | |
He plays his football in Turkey. This is what happened with the | :50:22. | :50:29. | |
challenge with Ghoochannejhad. It is a strong challenge. It was on the | :50:30. | :50:34. | |
floor, he just goes over, you may have slightly twisted his ankle when | :50:35. | :50:38. | |
landing. It is difficult to see, really. As I mentioned, they have a | :50:39. | :50:48. | |
ready made replacement in Joseph Yobo, if he can't continue. Stephen | :50:49. | :50:52. | |
Keshi has made some big decisions, leaving out Joseph Yobo, with all | :50:53. | :50:57. | |
his experience of the Premier League, with Everton and around | :50:58. | :51:01. | |
Europe as well. It was a big decision for the manager to leave | :51:02. | :51:09. | |
him out. Nigeria, just assessing the situation, before deciding whether | :51:10. | :51:12. | |
or not to make a change. Moses used his hand on that | :51:13. | :51:32. | |
occasion. Certainly, what they are looking for, again, an diagonal ball | :51:33. | :51:37. | |
to Moses, trying to get him isolated, one-on-one, against | :51:38. | :51:41. | |
Montazeri. That time, he strayed offside and he did not need to. He | :51:42. | :51:45. | |
went a bit too early. It was actually handball, wasn't it? | :51:46. | :51:59. | |
I think that is just an indication of what a huge occasion this is for | :52:00. | :52:07. | |
Iran, and the nerves in the squad. Yes, you can see it, one or two poor | :52:08. | :52:12. | |
touches from the players, and that time, the goalkeeper, Haghighi, a | :52:13. | :52:17. | |
bad kick out. It just shows the nervousness of all the players. | :52:18. | :52:34. | |
The Nigerians are still temporarily down to ten men. They are giving | :52:35. | :52:39. | |
Oboabona every chance to rejoin the action. He is heavily strapped, now. | :52:40. | :52:51. | |
A heavy touch from the left-back and he might live to regret it. Four | :52:52. | :53:01. | |
forward for Nigeria. A little hurried in their attempts to find | :53:02. | :53:05. | |
Moses. Another poor touch from Villani, the full-back. -- Pouladi. | :53:06. | :53:14. | |
Ashkan Dejagah was looking for the free kick. A shake of the head from | :53:15. | :53:24. | |
the Ecuadorian referee. Those two getting Ford, Ghoochannejhad and | :53:25. | :53:27. | |
Ashkan Dejagah, off the left-hand side. They need to try to get more | :53:28. | :53:30. | |
bodies forward, Iran, when they break. | :53:31. | :53:45. | |
Ambrose made his debut six years ago, and has started all but one of | :53:46. | :53:53. | |
the qualifiers, the Celtic full-back. Oboabona is certainly | :53:54. | :53:54. | |
going to give it a go. Finally, Oboabona is back on. | :53:55. | :54:16. | |
Nigeria restored to 11 men. Just no real threat, going forward. | :54:17. | :54:50. | |
That was a real chance. They had two or three bodies that had gone | :54:51. | :54:51. | |
beyond, there. So many white shirts in front of | :54:52. | :55:21. | |
Ambrose. The Iran back for is defending very | :55:22. | :55:39. | |
narrow, allowing Nigeria to go wide and put crosses into the box. They | :55:40. | :55:44. | |
feel as though they can defend them. But you just feel, at the moment, | :55:45. | :55:47. | |
the momentum is gathering with Nigeria. We were saying before the | :55:48. | :55:56. | |
game, Ahmed Musa is a threat if he gets in behind. Phil Neville said | :55:57. | :56:03. | |
before the game he can catch pigeons! You know he has got a bit | :56:04. | :56:07. | |
of pace, then. It tickled you, didn't it? It did. Iran might have | :56:08. | :56:14. | |
to scamper back again, here. Nigeria dust can't pick a pass at the | :56:15. | :56:20. | |
moment, though. -- just can't. Emenike, showing his frustration. A | :56:21. | :56:28. | |
poor ball, again, Ahmed Musa checked his run, looking to get its defeat. | :56:29. | :56:41. | |
-- get it to feet. Nigeria have not won any of their last eight games in | :56:42. | :56:46. | |
the World Cup finals. In the last two tournaments, they have been | :56:47. | :56:49. | |
beaten in the opening two games. It would be something of a shock if | :56:50. | :56:52. | |
they would be something of a shock if they were beaten in this one. But | :56:53. | :57:00. | |
Carlos Queiroz and Iran's plan is no secret, to stay organised and try to | :57:01. | :57:05. | |
mix something. That is the game plan, and they will be happy at the | :57:06. | :57:10. | |
moment, continuing in this vein, trying to see the game through, and | :57:11. | :57:14. | |
after an hour or so, they might get a set play or a breakaway goal. | :57:15. | :57:40. | |
That is better from Montazeri. I think with Ahmed Musa's pace, | :57:41. | :57:50. | |
perhaps try to knock it early on the outside. He is going to beat him for | :57:51. | :57:55. | |
pace. A good challenge, though, and a good decision from the referee to | :57:56. | :57:56. | |
give a goal kick. Is not a lots of space for Iran to | :57:57. | :58:30. | |
operate, there. It is a congested, isn't it? Certainly, the central | :58:31. | :58:38. | |
midfielders for Iran, just sitting right on top of the back four. It is | :58:39. | :58:44. | |
difficult for Nigeria to play through them. | :58:45. | :58:56. | |
We can tell you that Joseph Yobo is about to come on. They have given | :58:57. | :59:01. | |
Oboabona every chance, but that ankle injury is going to end his | :59:02. | :59:10. | |
day. So, the man who has played more often than any other player for | :59:11. | :59:15. | |
Nigeria, 33-year-old Joseph Yobo, comes on for his 98th cap, at his | :59:16. | :59:22. | |
third World Cup finals. Your former team-mate. I played with him at | :59:23. | :59:27. | |
Everton. He was extremely quick. Again, very experienced in this | :59:28. | :59:31. | |
squad. Nigeria will be heavily reliant on him. He played for | :59:32. | :59:38. | |
Everton, for eight years. He has had his disagreements with his coach, | :59:39. | :59:42. | |
Stephen Keshi. He was only recalled in March this year, after a year in | :59:43. | :59:50. | |
the wilderness. But he has so much experience in the heart of the | :59:51. | :59:56. | |
Nigeria defence. It has not been tested at all, as yet. | :59:57. | :00:23. | |
can threaten from a set play. -- turn. It coming together as both of | :00:24. | :00:37. | |
them had high boots. It is packed penalty area. Joseph is forward. It | :00:38. | :01:01. | |
was a brilliant effort from Musa. That is a free kick to Iran. That | :01:02. | :02:02. | |
buys them some time and allows them to get somebody's forward. | :02:03. | :02:16. | |
After that initial good start from Nigeria it has just died in the last | :02:17. | :02:23. | |
ten minutes. Stephen Keshi will want to get them in at half-time and | :02:24. | :02:27. | |
regroup. Start the second half as they had started the first. When | :02:28. | :02:33. | |
something is expected of Nigeria that is when they often feel to | :02:34. | :02:42. | |
deliver. When the hopes a law then they will act as a surprise. No much | :02:43. | :02:47. | |
-- no more so than last year when they won the applicant tournament. | :02:48. | :02:54. | |
They went all the way to defeat Burkina Faso in the final. | :02:55. | :03:27. | |
After 33 minutes of the game Iran have got the first corner. This is | :03:28. | :03:40. | |
the chance that Carlos Queiroz we'll want. Can they make something from | :03:41. | :03:45. | |
this corner. It was a good job to win the ball back and then get the | :03:46. | :03:46. | |
corner. That was a great save from Enyeama. | :03:47. | :04:10. | |
Something out of nothing for Iran. Good save from Enyeama. Quality | :04:11. | :04:15. | |
goalkeeper. He did well diving to his right. For the first 34 minutes | :04:16. | :04:23. | |
of this match he has had absolutely nothing to do. | :04:24. | :05:00. | |
That was a great run from Victor Moses, outpacing the full again. -- | :05:01. | :05:08. | |
outpacing the defender again. Suddenly you can feel inside the | :05:09. | :05:21. | |
stadium that Iran supporters have got a bit of belief. They need to | :05:22. | :05:29. | |
get onto the front foot and snap into the challenges. Get bodies | :05:30. | :05:30. | |
forward. That was a big chance for Emunike. | :05:31. | :06:14. | |
He could drive at them one on one. That was John will McKelvey was | :06:15. | :06:26. | |
penalised. -- it was Mikel who was penalised. Here is a chance. He had | :06:27. | :06:34. | |
to dive to his right hand side, Enyeama. Strong hands to pull it | :06:35. | :06:45. | |
away from danger. That is a free kick to Nigeria. Good concentration | :06:46. | :06:50. | |
levels from the goalkeeper because he has hardly touched the ball. That | :06:51. | :06:56. | |
is true. He is just getting his defence organised. Nigeria have to | :06:57. | :07:06. | |
be better defending set plays. This is what Carlos Queiroz wants. He | :07:07. | :07:14. | |
wants them to sit in and then try to score. | :07:15. | :07:26. | |
It just seems that that chance has taken Nigeria out of their stride. | :07:27. | :07:40. | |
Carlos Queiroz We'll be happy. Nigeria looked like they were a | :07:41. | :07:43. | |
threat in the early stages of the half but they have waned in the last | :07:44. | :07:45. | |
few minutes. Stephen Keshi is out in the | :07:46. | :08:10. | |
technical area. He barks his orders out. He is known to the Nigeria fans | :08:11. | :08:17. | |
as the big boss. He offered to resign after they had won the | :08:18. | :08:24. | |
African cup of Nations. He has the respect of his employers and he was | :08:25. | :08:29. | |
in persuaded to stay on to try to get them to Brazil. That was very | :08:30. | :08:39. | |
ambitious. It was a poor strike and he would never really score from | :08:40. | :08:46. | |
that distance. There is the chance, good header, they got good contact | :08:47. | :08:51. | |
on it. Decent save. He only managed one goal last season | :08:52. | :09:12. | |
after joining Charlton Athletic from the generated. -- from Leeds United. | :09:13. | :09:25. | |
That is just drifted out of play. That is a poor ball from Victor | :09:26. | :09:31. | |
Moses. It was a good run from the left-back Oshaniwa. It was a good | :09:32. | :09:51. | |
decision from the assistant. The team were very difficult to break | :09:52. | :09:55. | |
down in qualifying and they have proved so in the first half of this | :09:56. | :09:56. | |
match in Group F. There was only one thing on the mind | :09:57. | :10:24. | |
of Emunike. It was Emunike who went inside but he did have options. The | :10:25. | :10:38. | |
execution again. -- it was poor execution again. Stephen Keshi | :10:39. | :10:46. | |
preparing his words for half-time. He captained his side in USA 94 and | :10:47. | :10:50. | |
now he has the honour of coaching his side. | :10:51. | :11:19. | |
It is Montazeri with the throwing. The referee was not happy. -- | :11:20. | :12:18. | |
He could've given it to Victor Moses on his outside. | :12:19. | :12:39. | |
I think the longer this half is going on it is becoming easier for | :12:40. | :12:50. | |
Iran. They want to have easy balls coming straight at them. It was a | :12:51. | :12:55. | |
heavy challenge with the slight suspicion of handball. I just think | :12:56. | :13:01. | |
it is very easy for Iran to get themselves organised and the vendor. | :13:02. | :13:05. | |
They are narrow and not leaving species. -- spaces That is a free | :13:06. | :13:29. | |
kick for Nigeria. It is Azeez who is winning his fault. | :13:30. | :14:18. | |
We are approaching the final minute of normal time at the end of this | :14:19. | :14:21. | |
first half. Great movement from Musa. Coming in | :14:22. | :15:18. | |
off the right-hand side and trying to claim for handball. He was trying | :15:19. | :15:25. | |
to look for his partner Emunike. There are two minutes to add-on. | :15:26. | :15:43. | |
Iran have had the best chance to change the score so far. | :15:44. | :16:09. | |
Ashkan Dejagah took on three, but could not beat the fourth. | :16:10. | :16:32. | |
Do you feel that Iran have grown in stature and belief as the half has | :16:33. | :16:39. | |
gone on? Yes, the threat early on was from Victor Moses down the | :16:40. | :16:43. | |
left. That is not a penalty. A good little step back. Oh, I don't know, | :16:44. | :16:49. | |
maybe it pops out towards Islam but it would be difficult for the | :16:50. | :16:56. | |
referee to give. You are right, though, they have grown in stature. | :16:57. | :17:00. | |
I think they have settled very well. A few moments early in the | :17:01. | :17:04. | |
game and they were under pressure. But they have weathered it. They | :17:05. | :17:08. | |
have been comfortable, certainly in the last 15-20 minutes. | :17:09. | :17:24. | |
We are yet to have a drawer in the tournament, but this one, at the | :17:25. | :17:31. | |
break, is all square and goalless. Ironically, Iran, through | :17:32. | :17:34. | |
Ghoochannejhad, had the best chance to break the deadlock, but they were | :17:35. | :17:40. | |
denied by an Yuma. At the break, it is Iran 0-0 Nigeria. | :17:41. | :17:47. | |
A lots of hustle and bustle but not much of a castle so far. I have | :17:48. | :17:55. | |
heard more blasts from you than a couple of sets at Wimbledon. You are | :17:56. | :18:01. | |
frustrated? It has been awful! Iran are good team but they are well in | :18:02. | :18:04. | |
the game which is due to Nigeria being poor in the final third, the | :18:05. | :18:08. | |
decision-making on the ball has an awful. The final execution of the | :18:09. | :18:11. | |
passing and crossing has been very poor. They have had all the session. | :18:12. | :18:16. | |
Iran have not laid a glove on them apart from one set piece. They have | :18:17. | :18:20. | |
to be careful, because if they don't back up their ideas, they are going | :18:21. | :18:25. | |
to lose. It was a decent save in the set piece. Yes, he has a great | :18:26. | :18:30. | |
record at club level and he has proved his worth, after not having | :18:31. | :18:32. | |
anything to do in the Concentration levels have to be | :18:33. | :18:39. | |
high, and when called upon, he made the save. At this level, you have to | :18:40. | :18:44. | |
have your wits about you. He parried it but I liked the fact he got up. | :18:45. | :18:49. | |
What you don't see much is goalkeepers coming out and catching | :18:50. | :18:53. | |
the ball, not punching. That was the only chance Iran had, the | :18:54. | :18:57. | |
Ghoochannejhad header. Not a single shot from any crazy angle | :18:58. | :19:02. | |
whatsoever. Nigeria had a disallowed goal early on which we are not so | :19:03. | :19:06. | |
sure was a foul on the goalkeeper. No, we saw one of these in the first | :19:07. | :19:10. | |
game, Brazil against Croatia. So many times you see it now, the | :19:11. | :19:14. | |
goalkeeper always gets the benefit of the doubt. I don't think there is | :19:15. | :19:18. | |
much contact. The forward has every right to go for the ball. But the | :19:19. | :19:22. | |
goalkeeper always gets a foul in this situation. It is too many | :19:23. | :19:28. | |
times. They are an overprotected species. The goalkeeper has jumped | :19:29. | :19:33. | |
into John Obi Mikel, rather than the other way around. He has got to be | :19:34. | :19:37. | |
stronger, simple as that. You want your goalkeeper taking everybody and | :19:38. | :19:40. | |
the ball, there. He looked a bit like he did not fancy it. He was | :19:41. | :19:45. | |
taken out too easily. He also nearly got caught out by the free kick when | :19:46. | :19:50. | |
he was wandering a bit too far out. Yes, he was gambling, his starting | :19:51. | :19:54. | |
position was too far to his left. I look at the man at the near post as | :19:55. | :19:58. | |
well who did not get back into shape quickly enough. He gambled a bit, | :19:59. | :20:02. | |
went to his left. A bit more power... Ahmed Musa had seen he was | :20:03. | :20:09. | |
too far over, covering. The man at the near posted not get into quick | :20:10. | :20:14. | |
enough. That puts him in line, and put him off and doing something like | :20:15. | :20:17. | |
that could have embarrassed the goalkeeper. Decent effort. You spoke | :20:18. | :20:24. | |
before the game about a player to watch, Emenike. It looked like you | :20:25. | :20:30. | |
would be proved right, early on. But now you are a bit -- I am a bit | :20:31. | :20:37. | |
hesitant. I bet you are but the service has been terrible. He chases | :20:38. | :20:40. | |
down the channel, with great pace and strength, gets his man turned, | :20:41. | :20:45. | |
lovely ball in, and Ahmed Musa should have scored. He's very good | :20:46. | :20:50. | |
at that. Too many times in the first half, they have been chipping | :20:51. | :20:54. | |
straight balls into him. It has been meat and drink for the Iranians | :20:55. | :20:57. | |
offenders. They have obviously said, " let's get into the striker early". | :20:58. | :21:04. | |
But far too many times, it has been too straight and easy for the | :21:05. | :21:07. | |
defenders to get round the front and break up the play. It is frustrating | :21:08. | :21:11. | |
because at times, they have a chance to break and they have not quite | :21:12. | :21:15. | |
managed it. You have looked at the tactics. What is missing from | :21:16. | :21:19. | |
Nigeria's game in the first half? Why are they struggling to break | :21:20. | :21:24. | |
Iran down? They take too many touches. Iran have 11 men behind the | :21:25. | :21:31. | |
ball. We knew that before the game. Nigeria have not moved it quick | :21:32. | :21:34. | |
enough, too many touches. We have not seen Moses or Ahmed Musa on the | :21:35. | :21:38. | |
ball enough. They have the speed to beat players won against one and we | :21:39. | :21:43. | |
have not seen any service into them. -- one against one. The passing in | :21:44. | :21:47. | |
the midfield free has been dreadful, John Obi Mikel has been slow and | :21:48. | :21:51. | |
square and the other two have been trying to hit long diagonals, and I | :21:52. | :21:54. | |
don't think they have made one in the first. Wood they got outpaced. | :21:55. | :21:59. | |
The first thought is to pass the ball sideways. But Nigeria's main | :22:00. | :22:02. | |
strengths are the pace of the forwards. Run beyond, play the ball | :22:03. | :22:07. | |
forward. You have got people in front of you but it is sideways and | :22:08. | :22:11. | |
sideways again and Iran are suddenly back in shape, not giving Nigeria | :22:12. | :22:17. | |
the chance to go forward. He is running through, and the spaces are | :22:18. | :22:21. | |
in the wide areas, Moses is on the ball, comes out but nothing. Emenike | :22:22. | :22:27. | |
needs the ball into the space, to run into and uses pace and it is not | :22:28. | :22:33. | |
happening. -- use his pace. Again, execution. It is neither here not | :22:34. | :22:38. | |
there. It'd go into Ahmed Musa's feet behind for Emenike. This is my | :22:39. | :22:43. | |
favourite. What's he going to do? He has got a man from behind and in | :22:44. | :22:48. | |
front and two either side. He is crowded out, instead of going wide | :22:49. | :22:53. | |
and opening up play. You have played against these guys. I have seen John | :22:54. | :22:58. | |
Obi Mikel quite a lot for Chelsea. Does he always slow things down and | :22:59. | :23:01. | |
play a bit square? He is one of those kind of players, isn't he? It | :23:02. | :23:05. | |
frustrates me when I watch him because he is a big, powerful lad | :23:06. | :23:09. | |
who can drive forward, cause problems, draw out a defender and | :23:10. | :23:13. | |
then take the ball behind him but he seems to be content to pass it | :23:14. | :23:17. | |
sideways and keep it ticking over. For me, as a defender, it is easy. | :23:18. | :23:23. | |
He is not causing you problems. Lets hope for more excitement in the | :23:24. | :23:24. | |
second half. England trained earlier today in | :23:25. | :23:34. | |
Rio. Let's get the latest news from the camp with Gabby Logan. | :23:35. | :23:38. | |
It is the morning after the day after the day after the night before | :23:39. | :23:41. | |
but there is no walk of shame for England's players. Back to work and | :23:42. | :23:45. | |
training at their base, they were keen to avoid any negative chatter | :23:46. | :23:49. | |
and accentuate the positives. The two Daniels personified everything | :23:50. | :23:53. | |
that was right about England on Saturday night. It was not a case of | :23:54. | :24:00. | |
us feeling, OK, we can't one World Cup because we should have won the | :24:01. | :24:02. | |
first game. We were disappointed because we knew how well we played | :24:03. | :24:05. | |
and we realised it was an opportunity to get a result and we | :24:06. | :24:09. | |
did not get it in the end. But now we have two games to go out therein | :24:10. | :24:12. | |
get the job done. When you dwell on things, it can lead into the next | :24:13. | :24:17. | |
game. But we played so well. We understand if we continue playing as | :24:18. | :24:20. | |
we did, we will get results it is not a question of if we will win | :24:21. | :24:26. | |
games. It is when we will win. We are looking to make it happen in the | :24:27. | :24:30. | |
next one. We can take positives from the last game but ultimately, we did | :24:31. | :24:34. | |
not win. That is the most important thing. We needed three points to | :24:35. | :24:39. | |
succeed in the next round. All the forward players for England have the | :24:40. | :24:45. | |
flexibility to move in and around, interchange positions. Obviously, | :24:46. | :24:49. | |
Wayne was on the left in the first game and in the second game, he | :24:50. | :24:53. | |
could be in a different position. He has got 93 caps and is Harry | :24:54. | :24:56. | |
experienced. When he is on the pitch, he can make a difference. -- | :24:57. | :25:02. | |
very experienced. It's a big game and I'm looking forward to it, as | :25:03. | :25:05. | |
are all the players. We realise the task ahead. We are not worried about | :25:06. | :25:10. | |
individuals or Uruguay. I am not an texting terms with Luis Suarez at | :25:11. | :25:17. | |
the moment. I don't think Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson, Raheem | :25:18. | :25:20. | |
Sterling Glen Johnson are, either. I don't think he will want to tell | :25:21. | :25:23. | |
anyone how he is feeling. I hope he is OK, fighting fit, because I never | :25:24. | :25:29. | |
wish any body injury. But regardless of whether he is playing, we can't | :25:30. | :25:33. | |
worry about Luis Suarez. There is playing, we can't worry about Luis | :25:34. | :25:36. | |
Suarez. Their resonant session with him for Uruguay. It is a team game. | :25:37. | :25:45. | |
-- varies an obsession. Daniel Sturridge also revealed he got a pep | :25:46. | :25:49. | |
talk from his mum on the phone. She told him to mash it up! This time | :25:50. | :25:54. | |
tomorrow, Brazil will play Mexico in Fortaleza. Juninho has been looking | :25:55. | :25:56. | |
ahead to the game with Mark Chapman. How difficult a test will Mexico be? | :25:57. | :26:10. | |
In the last six or seven games between them, it was a very tough | :26:11. | :26:19. | |
game, a tight game. Mexico did very well as a defensive team against | :26:20. | :26:23. | |
Brazil. Brazil found it a bit difficult to unblock the defence. | :26:24. | :26:31. | |
Mexico is not in the same form as before, even though they played well | :26:32. | :26:35. | |
in the first game. But Brazil have to prove now that they can unblock | :26:36. | :26:42. | |
the Mexico defence in the quickest way. Do you think the players were | :26:43. | :26:49. | |
too emotional at the start of the first game? Players were in tears | :26:50. | :26:56. | |
during the national anthem. Yes, definitely, they were. In the first | :26:57. | :27:00. | |
10-15 minutes, you could see it on the field. I think their minds came | :27:01. | :27:06. | |
to the right place and then they started | :27:07. | :27:14. | |
Are there any changes you would make for the Mexico game? I think it will | :27:15. | :27:21. | |
be the same team. Scolari wants to give them confidence. It is only the | :27:22. | :27:25. | |
first game. I think the players need to play better than they did in the | :27:26. | :27:30. | |
first game. But it is all about confidence. I think Scolari will | :27:31. | :27:35. | |
give them a lot of confidence in the second game. They have to be | :27:36. | :27:39. | |
flexible. Mexico will come to defend than they did in the first game -- | :27:40. | :27:46. | |
more than they did. Neymar and Oscar need to have movement. Who would you | :27:47. | :27:51. | |
prefer at number ten, Neymar, or Oscar? It is difficult to see a | :27:52. | :27:55. | |
number ten at all. They want to play on the sides. It is strange for me | :27:56. | :27:59. | |
because I like a playmaker in the hole. Probably, Neymar would do a | :28:00. | :28:06. | |
better job. Everybody knows they have to mark the playmaker but he | :28:07. | :28:11. | |
has to move and get the ball in good places to get some gaps. Paulinho, I | :28:12. | :28:16. | |
think he needs to come more into the game than he did in the first game. | :28:17. | :28:24. | |
He is like our surprise guy. Dani Alves and Marcello Trotta me to help | :28:25. | :28:26. | |
the front line. -- Marcello Trotta. Here they come, so much pressure, so | :28:27. | :29:03. | |
much expectation. This is the title that all the players want to win. To | :29:04. | :29:08. | |
right, a lot of these guys are friends of the court but the moment | :29:09. | :29:12. | |
they step out there, forget it. A hugely exciting moment, this. It | :29:13. | :29:17. | |
still gives you goose bumps, centre court. Two it is the greatest court | :29:18. | :29:24. | |
in the world. -- it is the greatest court in the world. Wimbledon, | :29:25. | :29:30. | |
2014. It is anyone's game. the world of social media. The Globe | :29:31. | :29:56. | |
went excited for Messi at the American last night. -- at the | :29:57. | :30:06. | |
Maracana. That was the highest peak of the weekend. One thing that | :30:07. | :30:09. | |
happened on Friday is causing ripples, which is trying to | :30:10. | :30:14. | |
replicate the position adopted by Robin van piercing when he scored | :30:15. | :30:17. | |
that wonderful equaliser against Spain. -- Persie. | :30:18. | :30:38. | |
You continues in your thousands to send anywhere you are watching the | :30:39. | :30:43. | |
World Cup this summer. Let us look at some of those. The perfect | :30:44. | :31:00. | |
English pop. -- public house. This is some impressive second screen. | :31:01. | :31:10. | |
Tactical camera all the way. If you hit the red button you can find | :31:11. | :31:13. | |
plenty to do whilst you are watching the World Cup in the background. If | :31:14. | :31:19. | |
there's anything you want to send anything to then send it to BBC | :31:20. | :31:29. | |
World Cup on twitter. If any of you go onto Twitter then | :31:30. | :31:32. | |
you will know that Southhampton have appointed a new manager, Ronald | :31:33. | :31:41. | |
Truman, he was a decent player. If he is half a good manager as he was | :31:42. | :31:45. | |
a player than that is a good appointment. -- Koeman. His biggest | :31:46. | :31:57. | |
test before he kicks a ball is keeping hold of the players. It will | :31:58. | :32:03. | |
be a tough job. Second half. What will change? Nigeria have to play | :32:04. | :32:12. | |
quicker. John Aubrey Meeker has been the star but he is taking too many | :32:13. | :32:16. | |
touches. Iran will be playing for set pieces. The main focus for them | :32:17. | :32:22. | |
will be to try to get, and to steal gold. You said that Iran will not | :32:23. | :32:28. | |
good side, Neil Lennon, they will be happy. It will be delighted. -- they | :32:29. | :32:38. | |
will be delighted. Nigeria, there's a lot more to come from them. They | :32:39. | :32:45. | |
will be disappointed. Let others be join our commentary team. | :32:46. | :32:55. | |
So far, so good for Carlos credos. -- Carlos Queiroz. Nigeria will need | :32:56. | :33:15. | |
to move the ball quicker. Dislodge the Iranian backline. The crosses | :33:16. | :33:24. | |
into the box is easy for Iran to deal with. When John Obi Mikel gets | :33:25. | :33:30. | |
on the ball, quick passes, use Victor Moses to hurt them. Iran had | :33:31. | :33:44. | |
one glorious day in France 98 when they defeated the USA 2-1. The only | :33:45. | :33:51. | |
World Cup win. It is Nigeria who get the second half under way. They are | :33:52. | :34:03. | |
trying to dampen Iranians dreams and give themselves a platform in Group | :34:04. | :34:08. | |
F. There have been no changes from either side at half-time. They both | :34:09. | :34:16. | |
seek an alteration in the scoreline, particularly Nigeria. | :34:17. | :34:29. | |
Just too many bodies. Good defending. It was a decent run. | :34:30. | :35:26. | |
Trying to go on the outside. Mehrdad got across and it was good defending | :35:27. | :35:37. | |
from him. That was a pole and it is a free kick to Nigeria. There have | :35:38. | :35:49. | |
been a few Nigerians in the walls. -- wars. Do you think Nigeria need | :35:50. | :35:56. | |
to show more urgency. I completely agree with that. They have got some | :35:57. | :36:06. | |
good quality footballers. They need to make some quick passes but they | :36:07. | :36:12. | |
are not doing that. It is very easy for Iran to get set up and organise. | :36:13. | :36:23. | |
It would've been even better for Iran if that header had gone in the | :36:24. | :36:32. | |
first half. That was blocked by Nekounam, the captain, and Nigeria | :36:33. | :36:35. | |
have got a corner. Is this the moment when it changes | :36:36. | :36:51. | |
for Nigeria? Victor Moses with the extremely disappointing delivery. If | :36:52. | :36:56. | |
you beat the first man then you give the attacker is a chance. It was put | :36:57. | :36:59. | |
execution from Victor Moses. He did not in the end Haghighi. -- | :37:00. | :37:15. | |
he did enough. They have not got Musa and Moses -- | :37:16. | :37:46. | |
Moses into the game. He could be key for Nigeria. He started on the | :37:47. | :37:50. | |
left-hand side and he has now came out onto the right but he has had | :37:51. | :37:55. | |
very little impact on to the game. He should be fresh, Victor Moses. He | :37:56. | :38:00. | |
started only six Premiership games with his spell with Liverpool. It | :38:01. | :38:09. | |
did not work out for him at Anfield. The previous season he started twice | :38:10. | :38:13. | |
as many at Chelsea. I want to see him running behind the Rams defence. | :38:14. | :38:19. | |
He is not doing it at the moment and he is trying to get the ball at his | :38:20. | :38:20. | |
feet all of the time. That was an untidy foal from Joseph | :38:21. | :39:16. | |
Yobo. It was good touch from him initially, he got his body in front | :39:17. | :39:23. | |
of Joseph Yobo. You can see his hands are all over him. There was an | :39:24. | :39:46. | |
appeal from Nekounam for handball. Nigeria are making a change. It is a | :39:47. | :40:08. | |
familiar name. It is sure Ameobi who is coming on for Nigeria. -- Shola. | :40:09. | :40:25. | |
He made a good start to the game but he was not involved in the latter | :40:26. | :40:33. | |
stages. His association for 14 years with Newcastle has come to an end | :40:34. | :40:35. | |
and they are still trying to sort out his future. In the first half, | :40:36. | :40:45. | |
Nigeria were going direct. It'll give them more licensed to get the | :40:46. | :40:54. | |
ball into Shola Ameobi. That is the angle that they can get at the Rand | :40:55. | :41:00. | |
's defence. Nigeria have got a free kick. We'll Haghighi be tested | :41:01. | :41:08. | |
today? He was on loan at Portugal last season. | :41:09. | :42:17. | |
It is the fourth corner of the game -- fourth corner of the game. | :42:18. | :42:37. | |
That was a really poor set play. That is comfortable for Haghighi. He | :42:38. | :42:49. | |
did not play in any of the qualifying matches for Iran. The | :42:50. | :43:01. | |
number one was in possession of the shot and then he announced his | :43:02. | :43:15. | |
retirement. It was Haghighi who got the nod from Carlos query was today. | :43:16. | :43:24. | |
-- Carlos Queiroz. Nigeria have not done enough, especially from set | :43:25. | :43:35. | |
plays. They have been very poor. They have been unbeaten in their | :43:36. | :43:41. | |
last 28 World Cup qualifiers. They defeated Ethiopia in a play-off to | :43:42. | :43:42. | |
get here. It will be disappointment in the | :43:43. | :43:57. | |
country if they do not go on to win the scheme. We have Phil Neville and | :43:58. | :44:08. | |
Rio Ferdinand talking about the manager when he was at Manchester | :44:09. | :44:13. | |
United. The one thing that he is renowned for his organisation. You | :44:14. | :44:17. | |
can see that again in his team today. They are trying to defend the | :44:18. | :44:27. | |
width of the box. They are a loving Nigeria to go wide and then deal | :44:28. | :44:48. | |
with it when it comes into the box. It was Oshaniwa with the final. -- | :44:49. | :44:58. | |
foul. He did not have to cross at so | :44:59. | :45:18. | |
early. He had runners beside him. He was looking for the glory pass, | :45:19. | :45:23. | |
Emunike. It was easy for Iran to deal with. | :45:24. | :45:44. | |
Brilliant goalkeeping from Vincent Enyeama. He did really well, coming | :45:45. | :45:51. | |
over the top of Joseph Yobo, defending it. Excellent goalkeeping. | :45:52. | :45:58. | |
His third World Cup finals, the 31-year-old. His 92nd cap in the | :45:59. | :46:10. | |
Nigerian goal to night. -- tonight. Again, just lethargic with the | :46:11. | :46:13. | |
passing, moving it slowly across the pitch. No real pace. | :46:14. | :46:23. | |
They just have not been able to get in behind Iran at all. Apart from | :46:24. | :46:30. | |
the first ten minutes, that has been it, really. | :46:31. | :46:43. | |
You can see Ameobi, looking for the 1-2. It was good play from Ameobi to | :46:44. | :46:53. | |
win the challenge. Again, you sense that Nigeria are just looking for | :46:54. | :46:57. | |
the glory shot, the glory cross. Just keep it simple, keep moving it | :46:58. | :47:01. | |
quickly and the opportunity will come. Carlos Queiroz will be | :47:02. | :47:06. | |
delighted, on the bench. He was a bit spiky in the press Conference we | :47:07. | :47:12. | |
were out yesterday. There was a suggestion of negative tactics. He | :47:13. | :47:15. | |
certainly spoke with an error of defiance. Yes, you was asked about | :47:16. | :47:22. | |
the defensive shape of his side -- he was asked. They provided little | :47:23. | :47:26. | |
threat going forward. His response was basically, "there is more than | :47:27. | :47:31. | |
one way to win a game of football". A nice little bit of skill from | :47:32. | :47:32. | |
Emenike. There is a lot of talent in this | :47:33. | :47:48. | |
Nigerian side as well. I think we spoke about it before the game, | :47:49. | :47:51. | |
nerves can get the better of you. They have looked nervous in | :47:52. | :47:55. | |
possession. They are always looking for the safe option. They have | :47:56. | :48:00. | |
looked nervous with the expectancy. Everybody expects them to win this | :48:01. | :48:04. | |
game. Traditionally, Nigeria have struggled in that kind of | :48:05. | :48:10. | |
environment. That is wasteful again from Ambrose. You can't say much | :48:11. | :48:20. | |
about that, can you? He has got players onside. Ameobi had made | :48:21. | :48:23. | |
himself available, a good little angle to give and go. Try something | :48:24. | :48:25. | |
different. A reminder that we have another live | :48:26. | :48:59. | |
game tonight on BBC One from 10:40pm. It is Ghana against the | :49:00. | :49:05. | |
USA. And then tomorrow, a real treat, from 7:30pm, Brazil against | :49:06. | :49:14. | |
Mexico. It is still goalless come here in Curitiba. -- goalless, here. | :49:15. | :49:28. | |
That will be far too close to the goalkeeper. A dreadful throw out | :49:29. | :49:39. | |
from him, though. The shot came in from Hajsafi. I thought that was the | :49:40. | :49:48. | |
goalkeeper's way of trying to inject some urgency. I think it was John | :49:49. | :49:52. | |
Obi Mikel who was not ready for it, allow the ball to run across him. | :49:53. | :49:56. | |
Again, and Vincent Enyeama is looking to get them going. | :49:57. | :50:14. | |
Ambrose is making his World Cup debut. | :50:15. | :50:29. | |
Ameobi, dropping a little deeper. There is a bit of disgruntlement | :50:30. | :50:39. | |
coming from the Nigerian supporters inside the stadium. Definitely, you | :50:40. | :50:46. | |
can see they are defending deeper and deeper, Iran, but it is working | :50:47. | :50:56. | |
for them. We mentioned they have kept ten clean sheets in 16 | :50:57. | :51:00. | |
qualifying games. In their history, Iran have never kept a clean sheet | :51:01. | :51:06. | |
at a World Cup finals. We mentioned the confidence levels of | :51:07. | :51:11. | |
Ghoochannejhad. That might have been taking it a fraction too far. Yes, | :51:12. | :51:17. | |
it has shown today, with that clean sheet record they have got, you can | :51:18. | :51:22. | |
see how difficult it is for teams to play against them. Victor Moses, was | :51:23. | :51:27. | |
very disappointing today. He was not involved in the game apart from the | :51:28. | :51:30. | |
initial ten minutes. He had very little influence. | :51:31. | :51:42. | |
Not a decision that he particularly agreed with, there. Again, I think, | :51:43. | :51:50. | |
sometimes come here trying to show how strong he is, Onazi. Move the | :51:51. | :51:56. | |
ball quickly, release it and go elsewhere. Nigeria are just not | :51:57. | :52:02. | |
doing that. Oh, dear, it is going from bad to worse in terms of | :52:03. | :52:08. | |
Nigeria's attacking threat. Again, you can see, Iran are looking to sit | :52:09. | :52:17. | |
in. A good opportunity, there Hajsafi, getting forward. Can they | :52:18. | :52:26. | |
threaten come here? Ameobi is waiting in the penalty area but it | :52:27. | :52:28. | |
is nowhere near him. Can Iran get bodies forward? | :52:29. | :52:54. | |
Ghoochannejhad just showed too much of it to Joseph Yobo. Montazeri has | :52:55. | :53:02. | |
not been closed down. Three in the penalty area. A very important | :53:03. | :53:09. | |
interception from Oshaniwa. Much better, good break, getting the ball | :53:10. | :53:17. | |
wide as well. Heydari with a good, pacey cross, dealt with by the | :53:18. | :53:20. | |
Nigerian defence but another set play, what they are looking for. Can | :53:21. | :53:28. | |
they score? Just their second corner of the match. We have played almost | :53:29. | :53:34. | |
65 minutes. Will it be a telling one? | :53:35. | :54:00. | |
Emenike did well to get back but it went Iran's way. Emenike had the | :54:01. | :54:07. | |
pace, there. A decent challenge from him. I think the referees give the | :54:08. | :54:16. | |
foul for the scissors motion, both feet off the ground. A big | :54:17. | :54:22. | |
opportunity for Iran. Can they capitalise? | :54:23. | :54:32. | |
Hajsafi, the 24-year-old, with his left foot, to take a free kick. | :54:33. | :54:45. | |
Five Iranians bodies in there. It's needed watching -- it's needed | :54:46. | :54:57. | |
watching by John Obi Mikel. Nigeria still have not got this clear. | :54:58. | :55:03. | |
Hajsafi's pull-back was not quite there and then a difficult one for | :55:04. | :55:08. | |
Ghoochannejhad to keep down. The reaction of Emenike as well. | :55:09. | :55:20. | |
You just sense, as do the Iranians are borders, beginning to believe | :55:21. | :55:25. | |
they might see a bit of history, here. They still talk about the day | :55:26. | :55:32. | |
in France, 98, when they beat the USA 2-1, the only time in nine | :55:33. | :55:35. | |
attempts that they have ever won a World Cup match. You can see they | :55:36. | :55:40. | |
are growing in confidence. Carlos Queiroz, just below us, in the | :55:41. | :55:43. | |
technical area, getting very animated. | :55:44. | :56:10. | |
Another Nigeria corner. At from Joseph Yobo, taking a quick free | :56:11. | :56:17. | |
kick. It was a poor ball from Ambrose, actually, but they have got | :56:18. | :56:18. | |
something from it. Haghighi still has his clean sheet | :56:19. | :56:47. | |
in tact. -- intact. Nigeria might need to make a change because Ramon | :56:48. | :56:54. | |
Azeez has a touch of cramp. Peter Odemwingie is going to come on for | :56:55. | :56:59. | |
him. But he will have to wait until after the corner. | :57:00. | :57:10. | |
There was a clash of heads inside the penalty area. Emenike is OK. | :57:11. | :57:23. | |
Pouladi was the uranium player who challenged him. -- Iranians. | :57:24. | :57:39. | |
Ramon Azeez, justice that cap, having made his debut in March, | :57:40. | :57:47. | |
departs. -- just his third cap. Peter Odemwingie had not played for | :57:48. | :57:51. | |
Nigeria for two years, after his fall out with the country's | :57:52. | :57:54. | |
authorities. But he is back in the fold and back on the pitch, the | :57:55. | :58:03. | |
Stoke City man, for his 62nd cap. Yes, that clash of heads, there, a | :58:04. | :58:16. | |
strong challenge from Pouladi. A big chance for Odemwingie. He actually | :58:17. | :58:19. | |
had a decent end to the season. We know he is a threat and can score | :58:20. | :58:31. | |
goals. Yes, you got five -- he got five the Stoke after his January | :58:32. | :58:35. | |
move from Cardiff. He has a little over 20 minutes to influence | :58:36. | :58:36. | |
matters, here. A better delivery and Ameobi! A big | :58:37. | :58:54. | |
chance. Much better, ball played into Odemwingie, good control, | :58:55. | :59:00. | |
played wide to Oshaniwa, and a great ball into the box. Ameobi, expect | :59:01. | :59:09. | |
him to hit the target, there. -- you expect him. It was actually a foul, | :59:10. | :59:12. | |
the referee blowing the whistle just before. It was a chance, though, | :59:13. | :59:18. | |
wasn't it? He has got across his man, looking to hit the target. But | :59:19. | :59:24. | |
from Nigeria. -- better from Nigeria. 20 minutes to go, into it | :59:25. | :59:36. | |
either. -- in Curitiba. Nigeria, desperately trying to break the | :59:37. | :59:37. | |
deadlock. This was the Iran game plan after 70 | :59:38. | :59:49. | |
minutes, to be in the game with a clean sheet in tact. Exactly, we | :59:50. | :59:54. | |
spoke about it before the game as well, they have to keep themselves | :59:55. | :59:59. | |
in the match. They are defensively well organised. Certainly, Carlos | :00:00. | :00:02. | |
Queiroz has got the best out of his side were doing that. And they have | :00:03. | :00:08. | |
done the job. -- for doing that. Can they get a set play or a breakaway | :00:09. | :00:11. | |
to get the goal and win themselves the game? That was put again, it | :00:12. | :01:11. | |
really is. It was a simple pass for a Musa. It was a good run by Ambrose | :01:12. | :01:19. | |
on the right-hand side. It is really shocking. You can see the chance | :01:20. | :01:27. | |
again, it was good movement by Shola Ameobi. He does have a couple of | :01:28. | :01:40. | |
international goals to his name. He has scored only five league goals in | :01:41. | :01:47. | |
the last three seasons. Nigeria will not be concerned with it comes from | :01:48. | :01:51. | |
as long as they can find a goal in the remaining 17 minutes. They play | :01:52. | :01:57. | |
Bosnia next before facing Argentina. | :01:58. | :02:57. | |
It is a bit scrappy. Who touches from both sides. -- poor. This is | :02:58. | :03:21. | |
the first yellow card of the game. It goes to the former Morton | :03:22. | :03:28. | |
midfielder. Peter Odemwingie has given them more energy when he's | :03:29. | :03:30. | |
came on. That is the first name in the | :03:31. | :03:57. | |
notebook for the referee from Ecuador. John Obi Mikel with the | :03:58. | :04:03. | |
Nigeria free kick. That was a team effort in the end. | :04:04. | :04:25. | |
It was. It was a quick free kick by Mikel. This time he took a quick | :04:26. | :04:26. | |
one. That was comfortably taken by | :04:27. | :04:54. | |
Enyeama. We are going to have a change soon. | :04:55. | :05:29. | |
That was exciting but Dejagah could not get over it. He just got ahead | :05:30. | :05:41. | |
of the ball, Dejagah. Nigeria with a timely reminder. That is the threat | :05:42. | :05:46. | |
that they carry. You need to get forward and be quick, and PC. You | :05:47. | :05:52. | |
need to get the ball into the box and take it when you get the chance. | :05:53. | :06:01. | |
He has been disappointing, Emunike. He has got pace. Very disappointing. | :06:02. | :06:13. | |
That headed opportunity from Dejagah who plays for Fulham. It is as last | :06:14. | :06:18. | |
opportunity. He will make way. I wonder if Dejagah is sitting down | :06:19. | :06:49. | |
and they are wondering what might have been. It was a big chance for | :06:50. | :07:36. | |
him. There were stories of only 11 players attending training camps. | :07:37. | :07:40. | |
There was a lack of funding from 40s. Even the players kept were | :07:41. | :07:55. | |
shrinking in the wash. -- kit. The players have been told not to swap | :07:56. | :07:58. | |
shirts because replacements are in short supply. We have seen some | :07:59. | :08:09. | |
people changing shirts at half-time. I am sure it will not be the same. | :08:10. | :08:14. | |
They defied the odds to get here and they are doing the same in the | :08:15. | :08:22. | |
opening game. They had clean sheets in qualification. Difficult to break | :08:23. | :08:26. | |
down and difficult to beat. Nigeria have not done enough for me. They | :08:27. | :08:32. | |
have been very poor going forward. They have been very difficult to | :08:33. | :08:33. | |
play against. Very well organised. Is this to be the first goal the | :08:34. | :08:54. | |
scheme of the World Cup finals? -- goalless game. | :08:55. | :09:13. | |
Space is beginning to appear for Iran. Hajsafi getting more influence | :09:14. | :09:48. | |
on this team now. I am running out of things to say about instances | :09:49. | :09:52. | |
like that. That just sums up Nigeria. It was pure touch. There | :09:53. | :09:59. | |
was nobody within ten or 15 yards from home. At this level it is | :10:00. | :10:05. | |
unacceptable. You can see what Stephen Keshi thinks of it. His | :10:06. | :10:17. | |
contract is up at the end of the tournament and any more displays | :10:18. | :10:20. | |
like this then they will not be any debate about whether it should be | :10:21. | :10:21. | |
renewed. That was handball. The referee 's | :10:22. | :11:00. | |
whistle had gone. He says shoulder. Relevant because he did not hit the | :11:01. | :11:08. | |
target. He just took over the, Peter Odemwingie. He just took over the, | :11:09. | :11:10. | |
Peter Odemwingie. They recognise the school temple. -- he recognised the | :11:11. | :11:25. | |
slow tempo. He has looked a bright spark since he has came on. | :11:26. | :11:30. | |
Everybody else in Nigerian side has been very pure around him. -- poor. | :11:31. | :11:53. | |
Again it is Mikel. He is trying to beat a man when he can move the ball | :11:54. | :11:59. | |
from the centre. Give somebody else a chance in space. | :12:00. | :12:20. | |
I just wonder whether the Nigerian players have studied their grip. | :12:21. | :12:27. | |
Bosnia and Argentina still to play. -- studied their group. Getting out | :12:28. | :12:36. | |
of the group is not something the group is not something they did four | :12:37. | :12:38. | |
years ago, they finished bottom of it. The way that Bosnia played | :12:39. | :12:45. | |
against Argentina last night they have got so much going for them on | :12:46. | :12:47. | |
the evidence that we have seen. Very quick Omeruo. I have seen him | :12:48. | :13:39. | |
play at Middlesbrough this season. He has got the ability to play it | :13:40. | :13:40. | |
out. The African champions have fallen | :13:41. | :14:10. | |
below the standards. Iran looked likely to maintain a record of | :14:11. | :14:14. | |
maintaining at least one point from every tournament they have | :14:15. | :14:15. | |
participated in. Iran are quite settled and happy, | :14:16. | :14:36. | |
dropping deeper and deeper. The owners, as it has been from the | :14:37. | :14:50. | |
beginning, on Nigeria. -- onus He was not fouled and he is looking so | :14:51. | :14:59. | |
quickly to the referee. I think he has been poor, I really do. | :15:00. | :15:46. | |
Those supporters have made it a great atmosphere. Events on the | :15:47. | :15:53. | |
pitch have not quite matched it. Yes, a lot of locals, Brazilians | :15:54. | :15:57. | |
coming out to support both sides this evening but you have to say, | :15:58. | :16:01. | |
they have disappointed on the pitch, overall. It is what we | :16:02. | :16:05. | |
expected from Iran, I have to say but I expected a lot more from | :16:06. | :16:07. | |
Nigeria. Two and a half minutes of the 90 | :16:08. | :16:20. | |
remaining. Iran, just keeping possession. They | :16:21. | :16:50. | |
just want to get over the line and get a point on the board. | :16:51. | :16:58. | |
John Obi Mikel, running into traffic and gets the free kick. I think he | :16:59. | :17:05. | |
gets lucky again. Again, dwelling on the ball, looking to beat two and | :17:06. | :17:09. | |
three men in the middle of the park. Just move the ball on and give your | :17:10. | :17:13. | |
team-mates a chance. Another change for Iran, sure Jerry, the | :17:14. | :17:21. | |
30-year-old, who places the ball in the Canary Islands with Las Palmas. | :17:22. | :17:28. | |
He is going to replace Heydari on the right-hand side. -- Masoud | :17:29. | :17:38. | |
Shojaei. It is his 51st cap. He is lastly experienced, the substitute. | :17:39. | :17:42. | |
He spent five years in Spain with Osasuna as well. Just a fresh pair | :17:43. | :17:46. | |
of legs that the last couple of minutes. Heydari has done a decent | :17:47. | :17:50. | |
job, certainly defensively. He has not been able to get forward at | :17:51. | :17:54. | |
times but after the initial problems on the right, he did well, | :17:55. | :17:55. | |
supporting his full-back. When we saw there were two | :17:56. | :18:07. | |
full-backs playing in the wide areas of midfield for Iran, there was not | :18:08. | :18:11. | |
any secret to their approach this game. Odemwingie, in the last minute | :18:12. | :18:16. | |
of the 90. That is a bit more inviting towards | :18:17. | :18:27. | |
Ameobi and Pouladi, very importantly, getting ahead of him. | :18:28. | :18:34. | |
Good defending at the far post. He did not have a good body shape, | :18:35. | :18:37. | |
Pouladi, but managed to get something on it. He could not see | :18:38. | :18:42. | |
the attacker coming in behind him. But he got something on it and did | :18:43. | :18:49. | |
well. Yet another Nigerian corner, John Obi Mikel taking it this time. | :18:50. | :18:56. | |
Ameobi's had! Pouladi again in the way. -- header. It has taken 90 | :18:57. | :19:03. | |
minutes to put a decent ball in the box for Nigeria. That time, John Obi | :19:04. | :19:09. | |
Mikel taking the corner. The Nigerians want is the late drama. | :19:10. | :19:12. | |
They only have two minutes of stoppage time left to witness it. | :19:13. | :19:15. | |
Back into the penalty area, headed clear by Nekounam. That is | :19:16. | :19:22. | |
comfortable in the end for Haghighi. Yes, comfortable ball | :19:23. | :19:26. | |
played in. Odemwingie, going out, looking for the short corner, just | :19:27. | :19:31. | |
to try to dislodge the uranium defence but they have been | :19:32. | :19:34. | |
comfortable defensively anyway. -- Iranians defence. | :19:35. | :19:45. | |
The uranium substitutes are poised in the technical area to jump onto | :19:46. | :19:53. | |
the pitch. -- Iranians substitutes. From where they have come from, | :19:54. | :19:57. | |
under Carlos Queiroz this would be a significant stride forward. Of | :19:58. | :20:01. | |
course, but this is a late chance for them to put the ball into the | :20:02. | :20:04. | |
Nigerian penalty area. Can they cause problems? The last minute of | :20:05. | :20:08. | |
stoppage time. The whistle had already gone by the | :20:09. | :20:18. | |
time Ameobi defended it. A decent chance, Ameobi coming in at | :20:19. | :20:41. | |
the far post. Again, the first real decent set play Nigeria have taken. | :20:42. | :20:44. | |
Well dealt with, in the end. Well, the African champions cannot | :20:45. | :20:54. | |
get off to a winning start. It is a very big point for Iran. In their | :20:55. | :21:02. | |
World Cup history. The Nigerian supporters are booing. Already, in | :21:03. | :21:08. | |
Group F, Stephen Keshi's team have an uphill task to try to get out of | :21:09. | :21:15. | |
this section. Carlos Queiroz's plan, in the end, sufficient for Iran. We | :21:16. | :21:19. | |
had to have a drawer sooner or later and we had to have a 0-0 soon | :21:20. | :21:25. | |
enough, and it has arrived in Curitiba. But it is a positive | :21:26. | :21:26. | |
result for Iran. STUDIO: This World Cup had seen the | :21:27. | :21:36. | |
longest wait for a draw, 12 games, since the 1930 World Cup. Unlucky | :21:37. | :21:43. | |
13, eight? Iran had more clean sheets than any other nation in | :21:44. | :21:46. | |
qualifying, and Nigeria were the lowest scorers so we should not be | :21:47. | :21:51. | |
surprised. Iran can take satisfaction from their first clean | :21:52. | :21:55. | |
sheet at a World Cup. But Nigeria have no victories in nine games at | :21:56. | :21:59. | |
the tournament, the longest streak of any side in Brazil. Today's | :22:00. | :22:03. | |
result keeps Argentina top of the group with Bosnia bottom. I suppose | :22:04. | :22:11. | |
we were due a bit of a dud? We were. It is knows a bright but before the | :22:12. | :22:16. | |
game, both teams tight defensively. I was disappointed with Nigeria. I | :22:17. | :22:19. | |
thought they liked so much quality. I know they are a young team and | :22:20. | :22:22. | |
Stephen Keshi is trying to rebuild from the golden generation they had | :22:23. | :22:25. | |
in the 90s but I was disappointed with the final product tonight. | :22:26. | :22:31. | |
There were so few genuine goal-scoring opportunities. The | :22:32. | :22:34. | |
decision-making in the final third, when Nigeria got there, was poor. | :22:35. | :22:38. | |
They made the wrong choices and the quality of the ball into the box and | :22:39. | :22:41. | |
the front men was very bad. They did not play to their strengths. It was | :22:42. | :22:46. | |
disappointing to see. It is the first booing we have had as well, as | :22:47. | :22:51. | |
we finished. It is disappointing but we have had a good start to the | :22:52. | :22:54. | |
tournament. You need one sometimes. There was a real lack of quality in | :22:55. | :22:58. | |
the game generally. I thought both teams were poor. You can understand | :22:59. | :23:02. | |
it with Iran but I've got to congratulate them on their point. | :23:03. | :23:05. | |
I'm sure Carlos Queiroz will be very proud. The one saving grace for | :23:06. | :23:10. | |
Nigeria is maybe they are better at counterattacking. They had to try to | :23:11. | :23:13. | |
break a team down today and it looked like they did not have the | :23:14. | :23:16. | |
quality. Against Bosnia and Argentina, you will imagine they | :23:17. | :23:19. | |
will have more of the ball and it might suit Nigeria are bit better. | :23:20. | :23:23. | |
But they will have to pass the ball a lot quicker and better than they | :23:24. | :23:28. | |
did today. Really, they had two half chances, Ameobi headers. It was the | :23:29. | :23:34. | |
first time they got someone in the box, properly, to attack the ball. | :23:35. | :23:39. | |
And it was put in there. It was not whipped in and hit the front man. | :23:40. | :23:44. | |
The first decent move of the game. Yes, quick play, one and two touch, | :23:45. | :23:48. | |
into the danger areas out wide, into the danger area of the box and | :23:49. | :23:52. | |
Ameobi will attack the ball in the right areas. It was not a great | :23:53. | :23:56. | |
header but he made himself available and tried to get across defender. | :23:57. | :24:05. | |
When they brought on Ameobi, this is John Obi Mikel, we spoke at | :24:06. | :24:07. | |
half-time about the slowness in the Nigerian play. John Obi Mikel is the | :24:08. | :24:10. | |
most experienced player and he summed it up, how slow he played. | :24:11. | :24:14. | |
They brought Ameobi on for Victor Moses and I thought they would be | :24:15. | :24:17. | |
direct straight away. When they did, twice, Ameobi nearly got on the end | :24:18. | :24:23. | |
of it. The substitutes, Ameobi and Odemwingie, added a spark but that | :24:24. | :24:26. | |
would not have been hard, given the previous 70 minutes. And Emenike, | :24:27. | :24:33. | |
who I tipped to be a star, Kiss of death again, had an absolute | :24:34. | :24:38. | |
stinker. John Obi Mikel, we showed a clip in the middle, although we did | :24:39. | :24:43. | |
not expect it. You have got a more details look at him. It was | :24:44. | :24:49. | |
laborious at times. Yes, slow and laboured. For such an experienced | :24:50. | :24:52. | |
player, in a game like this, when you get so many people behind the | :24:53. | :24:59. | |
ball, you need to be passing quickly. Six seconds on the ball, | :25:00. | :25:02. | |
but Iran get back into shape. Did not even look to get forward, passes | :25:03. | :25:07. | |
back again. This sums it up, when he gets the ball back and he should be | :25:08. | :25:11. | |
looking to play forward -- he is looking to play forward but it is | :25:12. | :25:14. | |
the wrong time because Iran are back in shape. He did this, not on one | :25:15. | :25:19. | |
occasion but maybe ten occasions in the game. You have to remember, this | :25:20. | :25:22. | |
is the game they should have wanted to go out and win. The next two | :25:23. | :25:26. | |
games will be difficult with better opposition. You would have thought | :25:27. | :25:30. | |
there would be more urgency in their play. That is just speculative, no | :25:31. | :25:34. | |
real opportunity to score. You have got bodies in front of you. It is | :25:35. | :25:39. | |
disappointing. He is an experienced player, played in huge | :25:40. | :25:40. | |
disappointing. He is an experienced player, played in games for Chelsea | :25:41. | :25:43. | |
titles and you would expect him to have a bit more drive and verve. The | :25:44. | :25:49. | |
real winners are Bosnia, really. Exactly. They will look at this game | :25:50. | :25:53. | |
and fancy their chances against both of these teams. They have played the | :25:54. | :25:57. | |
best team in the group, and now they can lick their lips in anticipation | :25:58. | :26:02. | |
for the next two games. I'm not sure Ambrose has benefited too much from | :26:03. | :26:07. | |
your coaching. You can see why I play him at centre-half! I think he | :26:08. | :26:14. | |
plays right back because they want a well structured defence. But he does | :26:15. | :26:18. | |
not have the crossing technique. He's very good at this, looking for | :26:19. | :26:21. | |
the short pass but he cannot cross. He does not have the technique. He | :26:22. | :26:27. | |
has what we call a curly toe. You want it straight but it tends to | :26:28. | :26:30. | |
deviate and die at the end. He has got one of them. That is a | :26:31. | :26:36. | |
magnificent ball to nobody. He has not even looked up. He's just trying | :26:37. | :26:41. | |
to hit an area. This is the thing, they are getting in the final third | :26:42. | :26:44. | |
and this is when the decision-making needs to be on point. Passes the | :26:45. | :26:49. | |
ball and it's bad, out of play. It summed them up, no quality and no | :26:50. | :26:53. | |
quality in the final third. Is in some way, Iran had the game. Yes, | :26:54. | :27:01. | |
you we go. Ghoochannejhad with a good header. Nice header, the keeper | :27:02. | :27:08. | |
was on his toes, high levels of concentration. Even though he did | :27:09. | :27:12. | |
not have much of the ball, you could argue that Iran had probably the | :27:13. | :27:17. | |
better of the chances in this game. -- they did not have. In games like | :27:18. | :27:21. | |
this, you think you are in control and you are going to the goal and | :27:22. | :27:24. | |
you can come unstuck with a chance like this. Maybe his timing was off. | :27:25. | :27:28. | |
He could have got up at the right time, got a header on goal and who | :27:29. | :27:33. | |
knows what can happen? The ball came off at a crazy angle as well. We can | :27:34. | :27:40. | |
hear from Carlos Queiroz now. The first time Iran have a point in the | :27:41. | :27:44. | |
opening game of the World Cup. I'm very happy but it was very | :27:45. | :27:47. | |
difficult. We played against a great team. It was necessary to lay a | :27:48. | :27:53. | |
realistic game. But I think we did well. We fought for everything, for | :27:54. | :28:00. | |
every ball, every space. We played for 90 minutes with one thing in our | :28:01. | :28:03. | |
mind, the first opportunity to try to score. It was a game that I need | :28:04. | :28:10. | |
to praise my players. They deserve to be congratulated. Mission | :28:11. | :28:24. | |
accomplished? The most important thing is that everything is open for | :28:25. | :28:29. | |
us. More than happy with that result. Jan versus USA kicks off at | :28:30. | :28:37. | |
11 p.m.. The African team are in good voice. -- Ghana. | :28:38. | :28:55. | |
Safe to say they did not watch Nigeria versus Iran. We can hear | :28:56. | :29:04. | |
from the former German World Cup winner. Stronger and stronger every | :29:05. | :29:10. | |
year. The domestic league which is so important is just improving. On | :29:11. | :29:16. | |
top of that we have got players in Europe who play in very good leaks. | :29:17. | :29:20. | |
They have got tremendous quality and experience. It is a good mix of men. | :29:21. | :29:29. | |
It is versatile. You have got players from different backgrounds | :29:30. | :29:34. | |
but we have got very good chemistry. It is a huge game. It is six a | :29:35. | :29:40. | |
pointer. You have to start on the right foot. Especially if you've got | :29:41. | :29:44. | |
a group like we have. We want to make sure we are spot on. We need to | :29:45. | :29:52. | |
beat them to continue on the path to Germany. We have got a lot of | :29:53. | :29:56. | |
respect for them because they are a good team and they have beat in the | :29:57. | :30:02. | |
USA in previous World Cups. We want to play against the top teams in the | :30:03. | :30:08. | |
world. He generally plays positive, attacking football. We can expect an | :30:09. | :30:18. | |
exciting game? He will be licking his lips to finished second in the | :30:19. | :30:23. | |
group after Portugal this afternoon. He loves to attack. That is how he | :30:24. | :30:29. | |
plays his game. It is a tough group with the other two sides. If they | :30:30. | :30:37. | |
had been sitting at home watching that game they will be thinking to | :30:38. | :30:43. | |
themselves, we can get at Portugal. They have lost their best | :30:44. | :30:48. | |
centre-half, Pepe. They are capable of beating big teams and they could | :30:49. | :30:57. | |
spring a surprise. They came so close last Ghana time,. They were | :30:58. | :31:07. | |
almost there before and they could believe that they can do it. Do the | :31:08. | :31:12. | |
USA have got strength and depth to challenge? It is a very difficult | :31:13. | :31:18. | |
group to come out of. I am looking forward to seeing him come up | :31:19. | :31:22. | |
against Germany. He changed the face of German football in the middle | :31:23. | :31:27. | |
part of the decade. USA depth, I am not sure. Dan Blocker tool does at | :31:28. | :31:34. | |
half-time about different ways that people can behave on social media, | :31:35. | :31:40. | |
having different opinions. Some players have got involved and we | :31:41. | :31:42. | |
have got some examples. This is the Arsenal striker with a | :31:43. | :32:00. | |
picture with the German Chancellor. And Mario Balotelli has filled a | :32:01. | :32:04. | |
World Cup sticker album all of pictures with himself. | :32:05. | :32:11. | |
He got a good self of humour. He is not self indulgent at all, is he? I | :32:12. | :32:21. | |
loved social media until about 24 hours ago. People want to be closer | :32:22. | :32:29. | |
to the players and that is what Twitter does to you. It is really | :32:30. | :32:38. | |
the first social media World Cup. It does bring players closer to the | :32:39. | :32:42. | |
public. That is why I got involved with it. I wanted to be able to | :32:43. | :32:50. | |
touch the players when I was a kid. What do you do when you finish a | :32:51. | :32:56. | |
game? He was probably having our side in that picture. You get to see | :32:57. | :33:00. | |
personalities and the humour that she did not get to see in the | :33:01. | :33:05. | |
context of a press Conference or a serious interview. You need to be | :33:06. | :33:11. | |
careful as Celtic manager? I was on Twitter for a while but I decided to | :33:12. | :33:16. | |
give it up. I needed to concentrate on my job plus it was a bit abusive. | :33:17. | :33:23. | |
We will be back shortly with an all-star cast. The Black stars | :33:24. | :33:28. | |
against the Stars Stripes. | :33:29. | :33:31. |