Nigeria and Uruguay will battle in the pivotal match of Group B at the Confederations Cup on Thursday.
Spain is predicted to top the group and could do so as early as Thursday with a win over Tahiti. Meanwhile Uruguay and Nigeria are expected to compete for the second spot in the group and the chance to move on to the knockout rounds.
Nigeria is coming off a 6-1 victory over Tahiti on Monday. Despite the lopsided score, the Super Eagles know that they did not play their best game. The team was undisciplined throughout the match with poor passes and unnecessary offside calls against them. More importantly, Nigeria had a number of great opportunities to inflate the score and failed to do so.
"It was difficult for us to raise our game today. When you know that you're playing against a team like Tahiti, with all due respect to them, you do tend to think that you can take it easy," said Nigerian coach Stephen Keshi."They showed that they could play a bit of football, and I congratulate them. It was tougher than expected: they fought like lions."
Uruguay is coming off an embarrassing 2-1 loss against Spain in which the team held possession for less than 30 percent of the game. If not for a Luis Suarez free kick goal in the 88th minute, Uruguay would be facing a greater hole heading into Thursday's game.
"Spain played much better than us and completely deserved their victory. They really imposed their game on us, especially in the first half. Our organization was a bit lacking and we didn't win the ball back enough. We tried to get more into the match in the second half, as we were playing for pride and didn't want to be embarrassed; it was a tough situation," said Uruguay Coach Oscar Tabares."We did manage to make more of a game of it at that point, although we probably have to admit that our opposition had taken their foot off the pedal a little by then. We saved face and put in a decent effort, although at times we played well below our usual standards.
Prediction: Uruguay and Nigeria battle to a 2-2 draw.
Start Time: 6 PM EST
TV: ESPN, UniMas
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