Up super eagles...

Debutants Bosnia and Herzegovina saw
themselves exit the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™
after two games, following a 1-0 defeat at the
hands of Nigeria. Peter Odemwingie's first-half
goal was enough to put the Super Eagles within
a point of the Round of 16.
With Argentina having already sewn up
qualification from Group F, the race was on to
try to wrap up the remaining spot. Both sides
were set up to play attacking football, and when
Haris Mendunjanin was booked for bringing down
Ahmed Musa, Peter Odemwingie – who had
impressed as a substitute against Iran – fired
the free-kick inches wide.
The Bosnians were looking intent on playing
attractive football in pursuit of the result they
needed, with their nimble-footed midfield pairing
of Miralem Pjanic and Muhamed Besic combining
superbly, only for the young Ferencvaros
midfielder to fire over. The African champions,
for their part, looked keen on making Begovic
work, as the shots from distance were raining in
from early on. First John Obi Mikel saw his low,
zipping shot flash just wide, before the Stoke
City goalkeeper had to beat away Ogenyi Onazi's
effort.
Edin Dzeko thought he had put the Europeans
ahead, but after latching on to Zvejzdan
Misimovic's slick through-ball and slotting past
Vincent Enyeama, he looked up to see a flag had
denied him. It was the Nigerian veteran
goalkeeper himself who was next to prevent the
Manchester City man opening his World Cup
account, pushing his near-post shot away for a
corner.
However, after the Super Eagles had spent ten
minutes on the back foot they struck against the
run of play. Emmanuel Emenike's near-
unstoppable momentum saw him bundle past
Emir Spahic down the right flank, before he laid
the ball on a plate for Odemwingie to slot past
his club team-mate Begovic.
While striking on the break was proving lethal for
Nigeria, it seemed just a matter of time before
the World Cup debutants would find joy with
feeding Dzeko. He was a constant worry for
Joseph Yobo and Juwon Oshaniwa and had a
great chance of the stroke of half-time, but after
Pjanic's cut back, he blazed over from 12 yards.
The pattern of play continued after the break,
with the eastern Europeans' passing creativity
finding gaps in the Nigerians' backline, but they
lacked the killer pass or clinical finish to make
them count, while the west Africans broke at
pace and tested Begovic from range. The
goalkeeper had to be on his toes to deny
Emenike from much closer in though after the
Fenerbahce striker pounced on a ricochet off
Odemwingie, only to see Begovic stick out a long
Bosnian leg to put it behind at his near post.
Safet Susic had said he wanted to save the
semi-fit Sejad Salihovic for their final game if he
could, but caved to the ticking clock, bringing on
the Hoffenheim midfielder and goal-scorer from
the opening match Vedad Ibisevic for an influx of
experience. The introduction of the latter almost
paid off, but he could only flick Misimovic's
corner over the bar.
With 15 minutes remaining and their shirts
drenched in sweat, Zmajevi (The Dragons) were
getting agitated with their World Cup future
looking bleak, but a Pjanic shot from range
doingtle to trouble Enyeama. Stephen Keshi's
side were still out to make the result safe, and
Onazi tested Begovic again with another drilled
effort from before Emenike shot just wide.
When Misimovic fluffed his lines on the edge of
the box with 90 minutes on the clock it looked
destined not to be their night. Edin Dzeko headed
straight at Enyeama moments later, before
seeing his effort from six yards turned on to the
post, and that save ultimately sealed their exit
from the tournament.