Nigeria vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2014 World Cup: Super Eagles win in dramatic fashion

Such a great save from the Nigerian keeper, especially considering that Džeko tends to not miss when he’s given a look at the goal from that close. The post gets an assist as well, but this is easily one of the saves of the tournament.

The victorious Super Eagles shaded the opening exchanges of the match, with Odemwingie curling a free-kick narrowly wide of Asmir Begović‘s post, before Ahmed Musa miscontrolled in the penalty area and the Bosnian keeper was called into action on a long-range drive by Ogenyi Onazi.

But Nigeria still stayed dangerous on the counter-attack, and they took full advantage by opening the scoring just short of the half-hour. Emmanuel Emenike out-muscled Bosnia defender Emir Spahić down the right, before drilling the ball across the box for Peter Odemwingie to stroke beyond Begović. They managed to hold the lead into halftime, with Džeko squandering a couple of half-chances before the break.

The Bosnians were not only mad about their earlier disallowed goal, but the lack of a call on Emmanuel Emenike here. Emir Spahic went down under his challenge before the assist and the Bosnians wanted a foul, but it would have been a soft call. There’s not much in that scuffle.

Bosnia just had a goal disallowed because ... uhh ...

Wow, that’s awful.

Even with that disappointing performance against Iran, Nigeria are still in great shape, assuming they can bounce back and defeat Bosnia. A win for the Super Eagles would eliminate Bosnia and put Nigeria on the verge of advancing. Stephen Keshi will need his team to do better on the attack, actually creating chances rather than just hoofing the ball forward towards Emmanuel Emenike.

Bosnia ended up an unfortunate own-goal away from pulling off a draw against one of the tournament favorites in Argentina. Despite that early goal, Bosnia responded well and gave the Argentines a solid test. That performance should give them confidence heading into a vital second match. Vedad Ibisevic could get a start for Bosnia after coming off the bench and scoring a goal against Argentina.

Nigeria, meanwhile, could well head into the final matchday having to pick up points against World Cup contenders Argentina to progress into the knockout stages. That would be the case if Bosnia earns at least one point in this match and then have enough left to beat a stubborn Iran. In short, this game is a must-not-lose for Bosnia, and in all likelihood a must-win for Nigeria.

Nigeria were very disappointing in their opening draw with Iran. Coach Stephen Keshi may, therefore, opt to make changes to his starting lineup, with Shola Ameobi and Peter Odemwingie alternative attacking options. They’ll hopefully have defender Godfrey Oboabona fit to play after he picked up an ankle injury in the opening game.