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France had trounced their way through the easiest group of the tornament, yet Nigeria looked likely to give them a much sterner test after restructuring the side that disappointed against Iran in their opening game, claiming second place in Group F. Olivier Giroud was chosen over Antoine Griezmann up front and Laurent Koscielny replaced the injured Mamadou Sakho for France, while Victor Moses was brought back into the Nigeria side for the injured Michael Babatunde. Nigeria had the better of the first half. Quick and direct forwards meant they could break quickly, with Victor Moses drifting towards the left to link with Ahmed Musa and Peter Odemwingie coming inside meaning Efe Ambrose could overlap down the right, while Ogenyi Onazi and John Obi Mikel ensured they were strong in the middle. Ambrose got forward less as the game progressed as Karim Benzema remained high up the pitch on the left and the withdrawn positions of the French midfield meant there was space between the lines for Mathieu Valbuena to move into when Mikel and Onazi were pulled forward, but Nigeria were performing better in an evenly poised game. There were two changes that won the game for France. The first […]
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