Nigeria might appear to be in a better position than Uruguay, but given that Tahiti should provide an easy three points to both teams, they're in a similar spot. Unless Spain finishes the day having already qualified for the knockout stage, Nigeria aren't going to do much better against La Roja than Uruguay did, and Uruguay can probably beat Tahiti by more than five goals. More likely than not, the two teams are playing for second place in the group on Thursday night.
Nigeria vs. Uruguay, 2013 Confederations Cup: Preview and TV schedule
Even though Nigeria have three points to Uruguay’s zero, they’re not in better shape than their knockout stage rivals if they don’t win on Thursday.
Clive Rose
Tahiti gets its big moment
Tahiti doesn't have a professional league and their captain lives in his mother's basement. Good luck trying to find a more unlikely qualifier for a major international tournament. Uruguay were much worse against Spain than the 2-1 score indicates. They were never involved in the game at all, and never looked particularly threatening following Luis Suarez's surprise free kick goal. Nigeria were also less than impressive against Tahiti and failed to finish a number of clear chances.
Given the poor performances by both teams in their first games, don’t be surprised to see both managers make big changes. A loss is probably a death sentence for either.
Match date/time: Thursday, 6 p.m. ET
Venue: Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador, Brazil
TV: ESPN (U.S. - English), UniMas (U.S. - Spanish), BBC Three (U.K.), Sportsnet World (Canada)
More in Soccer:
See More:
