While the France team is preparing for its round of 16 against Poland, eight years ago, during the success won against Nigeria at this same stage of the competition, an arbitration decision had caused a lot of ink to flow.
Four years after the shameful fiasco of Knysna, the Blues show a completely different face in Brazil. After two convincing victories against Honduras and Switzerland, the French team certainly stalled against Ecuador, but Didier Deschamps’ men are the favorites when it comes to facing Nigeria in the round of 16. Particularly impressive with Losc, Vincent Enyeama nevertheless raises fears of a France-Paraguay 98 scenario.
In the end, the Blues won in a minimalist way (1-0) and Vincent Enyeama missed out on the goal scored by Paul Pogba. The Blues were nevertheless left for a good scare when in the 19th minute, Emmanuel Emenike deceives Hugo Lloris almost with a flat foot recovery. The goal is nevertheless disallowed due to an offside, provoking the fury of the Nigerians.
The images may prove the referee right, the coach of the Super Eagles, Stephen Keshi does not mince his words at the end of the meeting. ” We played well but we were unlucky. The score does not really reflect the physiognomy of the match. I want to know why the referee disallowed a goal in Nigeria and why the replay was not shown on the giant screen. It’s a shame, he reacts at the end of the meeting. A defeat always hurts but when you see that your team is playing well, it’s even more unfortunate to lose under these conditions and it hurts. We don’t deserve to lose. »
The bias was in favor of the French
« When you look at the disallowed goal, there was no offside against us, he adds. The referee is a human being, he can make mistakes. It’s debatable. I’m not thrilled with his performance. I can’t tell the referee what to do but Onazi was twice the victim of dangerous tackles. The refereeing was not at the level and the bias was in favor of the French. »
And the Nigerian press is just as severe, denouncing an “injustice” and a “lack of consideration” for the African teams.