Switzerland spank Nigeria again

Switzerland appears to be using Nigerian teams as springboards to football greatness. After beating Nigeria in the finals of the U-17 World Cup finals in Abuja on Sunday, the Swiss beach football team followed their cadet team in mauling Nigeria’s Sand Eagles 7-2 in Dubai yesterday.

After going down to Brazil in its opening game, Nigeria needed all they could get out of the match against Switzerland. But barely 20 seconds into the match, Switzerland’s captain,

Sandro Spaccarotella and Dejan Stankovic had given the Swiss team a two-goal lead. Nigeria tried to come back into the match with Isiaka Olawale and Ifeanyi Igbinegu firing at the Swiss goal but their shooting was wayward. Instead, it was the Swiss who went further ahead in the third minute.

Frailties exposed

Switzerland continued to expose the frailties of the Nigerian defence when Stankovic scored his second and his team’s fourth in the sixth minute. Another goal quickly followed 15 seconds later and the match was over. Finally in the 13th minute, Isiaka Olawale scored Nigeria’s first goal. The momentum shifted to the Swiss side again some seconds after with Stankovic getting his third goal. Switzerland continued to take their chances and the match ended 7-2 with Azeez Abu getting another consolation goal in the 16th minute.

Ariyo’s direct-kick sailed out of the stadium at the other end, and moments later Stankovic showed him how it is done, albeit from a more advantageous position. Another from Mo Jaeggy heaped more misery on the men in green with just six minutes gone.

There were bright spots for Nigeria in the second period when Isiaka Olawale and Azeez Abu struck from close range, but there was little else for their fans to cheer about, as the acrobatic Stankovic had also added a couple more for the Swiss.

It was a back-and-forth battle in the final period, as both sides worked hard until the time expired. The Swiss could afford to be patient on the ball, but were wise not to relax entirely against the African champions, who came close on several occasions. But at the end of the day, it was the Swiss who proved to be much too much of a handful.

Nigeria, with no hope of qualifying for the next round, will close out the group stage today when it faces Bahrain, while Switzerland’s fine form of late could cause trouble for defending champions Brazil.