The 67,882 fans in attendance at the Mané Garrincha National Stadium in Brasília this Monday (June 30) watched a duel of alternation. France and Nigeria exchanged match domination consistently throughout most of the two halves, but the European attack took over at the close. The French scored two goals in short succession, hit the crossbar and forced two hard saves out of goalkeeper Enyeama all within the last 25 minutes of the match. The blitz was enough to secure the lead by 2-0 and a spot at the quarterfinals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.
The French now face Germany, who prevailed over Algeria at the Beira-Rio stadium in Porto Alegre. The European duel for a place in the semifinal takes place at the Maracanã, in Rio de Janeiro, on the 4th of July.
Forward Pogba, author of the first French goal and voted man of the match for the duel on the FIFA website, couldn't hide his satisfaction with the result during the post-match interviews. "I have no words. I'm very happy, for the team and for the whole of France. It's the biggest thrill of my life," said Pogba, who scored the first French goal at the 79th minutes after a fumble by Enyeama in a corner kick.
The second French goal came in injury time, also from a corner kick. Valbuena crossed to Griezmann at the first post. The French player missed the nudge to goal, but Yobo deflected the ball into his own net as he tried to save it.
Oitavas de Final - Estádio Nacional de Brasília - França x Nigéria
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