SUPER EAGLES Nigeria flew into the second round of the World Cup with another classy display, this time accounting for Bulgaria in the Parc des Princes. The Africans, who beat Spain 3-2 in their opening game of Group D, won with a Victor Ikpeba strike that, despite the Europeans late surge to grab a draw, thoroughly warranted victory. The reigning Olympic Champions picked up where they had left off from their first game in France with their shoot on sight policy once again the main feature of the game. Real Betis winger Finidi George went close, Sunday Oliseh whizzed a free-kick wide and Ikpeba was just off target with a header as the ageing Bulgarians, semi-finalists in the USA four years ago, struggled to keep pace with the fleet-footed Africans. It was not so much a matter if the Nigerians would secure the all-important breakthrough but more like when and so they duly did on 27 minutes courtesy of their Monaco star Ikpeba. Augustine Okocha found Daniel Amokachi after another crisp move and the Beskitas midfielder, who used to play at Everton, slid Ikpeba, African Footballer of the Year, into the danger zone. He then turned Trifon Ivanov before beautifully slotting the ball in under Bulgarian keeper Zdravko Zdravkov. Ikpeba could have had his second a mere 60 seconds later but just failed to keep his shot on goal. It wasn't until just before the break that Bulgaria suddenly awoke from their slumber and Hristo Stoichkov, who had struggled to get into the match, drove straight at Peter Rufai, and then Krassimir Balakov went even closer lifting a lob over Rufai, only to see the ball bounce agonisingly past the upright. Unsurprisingly Nigeria were unable to maintain their tempo of the opening 45 minutes, leaving Bulgaria free to chase the equaliser they needed. Stoichkov then fired wide after Kostadinov's effort was blocked and Balakov was mighty unlucky with a 25-yarder free-kick curling past the post. It was not to be Bulgaria's day. A point illustrated at the death by Kostadinov's effort hitting the underside of the bar and rebounding to safety. The Nigerians are through after just two games, and justifiably so. THE MATCH STATS Nigeria (1) 1 Bulgaria (0) 0 Nigeria: Rufai (6), Babayaro (5), Okechukwu (7), West (7), Oliseh (6), Adepoju (8), Finidi (7) (Babangida (6) 85), Okocha (8), Lawal (6), Ikpeba (8) (Yekini (7) 75), Amokachi (7) (Kanu (6) 67). Subs Not Used: W. Okpara, Baruwa, Iroha, Oparaku, Eguavoen, Okafor, G. Okpara, Oruma. Booked: Adepoju, Okechukwu, Ikpeba, Okocha. Goals: Ikpeba 27. Bulgaria: Zdravkov (7), T. Ivanov (5), Guinchev (6), I. Petkov (6), Kichichev (6), Yankov (6) (Batchev (6) 85), Balakov (8), Iliev (7) (Penev (6) 69), Hristov (6) (Borimirov (7) 45), Kostadinov (7), Stoichkov (6). Subs Not Used: Mihaylov, Zafirov, Kirilov, M. Petkov, Yordanov, Stoilov, G. Ivanov. Booked: Iliev, Kichichev. Att: 48,500 (crowd rating: 8) Referee: M Sanchez Yanten (Chile) 6.

IKPEBA CONFIRMS NIGERIANS' CLASS   NIGERIA'S matchwinner Victor Ikpeba underlined how much African football has progressed, after the Olympic champions qualified for the last 16 for the second successive World Cup Finals. Ikpeba struck in the 26th minute to sink Bulgaria and prove that their shock win over Spain in their Group D opener last week was no flash in the pan following a series of heavy defeats in their warm-up programme. ''You can still be Olympic champions and lose friendlies,'' the Monaco star said. ''Everything was a bit tense within the squad before the Spain game. But we've done very well against Spain and today against Bulgaria that shows how much African football has improved. ''I was delighted scored my first goal in the World Cup, but it was a team effort, so credit must go to the whole team. We really deserved to qualify. It was a tough match - both matches have been tough - but we've been able to win both. ''We can't play against France now, which is just as well because they're a difficult team to beat and have already scored seven goals in two games. We'll just have to wait to see who our opponents will be.'' Hristo Bonev, coach of Bulgaria, is still hopeful that his side can join the Nigerians in round two. ''We should have taken the chances that came our way, but we still have a chance of qualifying for the next round if we beat Spain next Wednesday,'' he reasoned. ''If we create as many chances as we did today, then we can beat the Spanish, there's no question of that.''

FOOTBALL365 SAYS:		TALE OF THE TURF Nigeria v Bulgaria
TO LISTEN to ITV's panel of experts, you'd have thought Nigeria went from being World cup favourites to also-rans in the space of about 15 minutes yesterday. Our dear friend, the nouveau footie fan, who has not followed Nigeria's progress over the last four years, may have been very confused. The truth is this: they dominated a decent international team for 45 minutes. No-one does that for longer than 20 minutes in most matches but they had torn Bulgaria apart. After the break they were stretched from one end to the other and allowed a few chances. But they still made a few themselves and should have won comfortably rather than sweating at the end. Listen: Nigeria are among the best teams in the world. In attack, only Brazil and possibly france on current form, can match them. They are more unpredictable than England, sparkle with flair, produce bits of magic when you least expect it. But this is not beach football - they do not do it just to entertain. Austin Okocha 'does' people to get out of tight situations, to create space, to bring the ball away rather than get clobbered. Add the pace of Ikpeba and the strength of veteran Yekini and the revitalised Amokachi, and you have an awesome attack. In defence, they are individually sound - powerful and quick. But as a unit, they drop too deep, inviting teams to attack them, especially on the break. With such an attacking midfield, there is a huge gap in front of defence at times that would give Ince and Batty nightmares. Stick Paul Lambert in there and they would look less vulnerable to anything special from opposing forwards. As it is, they have had more in their repertoire than anyone else - so far. Just enjoy it while it lasts - it could be two more games, it could be until July 12.		Team Name Nigeria Bulgaria Goals 1 0 Shots On Target 4 4 Shots Off Target 10 13 Blocked Shots 6 4 Corners 7 9 Fouls Conceded 13 19 Offsides 1 4 Red Cards 0 0 Yellow Cards 4 2

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