Men's Gold Medal Game, Match 32
ARG vs. NGR
Underdog Nigeria Upsets Favored Argentina in Men's Olympic Football Gold Medal Game
Underdog Nigeria completed its gold medal mission Saturday with a 3-2 upset over favored Argentina before a sellout crowd in Athens, Georgia. A goal by reserve Emmanuel AMUNIKE in the 89th minute completed Nigeria's quest.
The Sanford Stadium crowd of 86,117 seemed to favor Nigeria, which completed the Olympic football tournament upsetting the favorites -- Brazil and Argentina -- in its first gold medal appearance. The Nigerians controlled the majority of the gold medal game's tempo, outshooting Argentina 27-17 for the match.
Heavily-favored Argentina led twice during the match, scoring early in each half. Claudio LOPEZ put Argentina up 1-0 in the 3rd minute. Hernan CRESPO centered a cross pass to LOPEZ, who headed a shot into the left corner of goal past Nigerian goalkeeper Joseph DOSU. Celestine BABAYARO tied the score in the 28th minute when teammate Nwankwo KANU fed him the ball, which he headed off the left goalpost for the equalizer.
Argentina regained the lead 5 minutes into the second half when CRESPO drilled a penalty kick past DOSU. Feisty Nigeria tied the match in the 74th minute. On an inbound play, Daniel AMOKACHI flicked a shot over the top of Argentina goalkeeper Pablo CAVALLERO to tie the game 2-2.
AMUNIKE's decisive goal came on a free kick. Wilson ORUMA took the free kick and passed to AMUNIKE as he was moving toward the goal. Meantime, the Argentina defense apparently misread the coverage and pulled away from the goal, leaving AMUNIKE one-on-one with CAVALLERO. AMUNIKE took the pass and fired the winning goal into the right corner of the net.
The sellout crowd raised the final attendance figures to 1,364,142 for the Olympic tournament. The 48 matches, men's and women's combined, averaged 40,122.
Final Score: NGR 3, ARG 2.
"Argentina played very well today," said Nigerian defender Taribo WEST. "They are true professionals. But we are also one of the great sides in the world. We played our very best today and have become champions."
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