David Seaman
                                                   
 
        Danny Mills                         Rio Ferdinand             Sol Campbell                   Ashley Cole
                                                                                                                                       (Wayne Bridge 84) 

       David Beckham                  Nicky Butt                     Paul Scholes                Trevor Sinclair
                                                                                                                             

                                                 Emile Heskey                 Michael Owen
                                              (Teddy Sheringham 68)   (Darius Vassell 77) 

The Nigerian team that played was:

                                                            Vincent Enyeama
                                                   
 
                        Efe Sodje          Isaac Okoronkwo            Joseph Yobo          Ifeanyi Udeze
 

               Christopher Justice           James Obiorah             Agustine Okocha         Femi Opabunmi
                                                                                                         (Pius Ikedia  85)

                                        Julius Aghahowa           Benedict Akwuegbu
                                                       

This draw was all that England needed to progress to the second round of the World Cup 2002. England knew before the match that they only needed a draw to qualify and Nigeria did not want to go home with three defeats so both teams were defensively minded in the game (which did not make for a great spectacle). England did have the better chances to win the game but the draw was enough for second place in the group and a match against Denmark on Saturday 15 June.

In the other final group F game played at the same time, Sweden drew with Argentina 1-1 and so qualified top of the group with Argentina tragically being eliminated from the competition. Both pre-tournament favourites Argentina and France have therefore failed to qualify for the second stage of the World Cup.

England kept the same side that started the second half of the match against Argentina. Nigeria made a few changes to their side but had an advantage as the game was played in temperatures of 34 degrees Celsius (93 Fahrenheit).
 

Nigeria started the game better than England but after 18 minutes of the game, Emile Heskey got to a Danny Mills cross from the right side and the Nigerian goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama had to save well at his near post.

Five minutes later Rio Ferdinand got a great tackle in to deny Julius Aghahowa a shooting chance. On the half hour, David Seaman made a rare mistake in dropping a Jay Jay Okocha free kick shot but Aghahowa put the spilt ball wide under challenge from Sol Campbell.

After 34 minutes of the game, Michael Owen had a great run through the heart of the Nigerian defence but his shot in the penalty was deflected off the last defender. If Owen had scored that goal it would have been one of the greatest World Cup goals of all time but he did not even get a corner for his efforts due to an error by the referee.

A minute later, Nigeria had their best chance of the game when Benedict Akwuegbu got clear on the right side of the penalty box but chose to shoot rather than cross - Seaman saved well at his near post.
 

    
             Scholes shoots from 25 yards out                                       Man of the match Rio Ferdinand
 

Two minutes before half time Paul Scholes had a great shot from 25 yards out but an excellent save from Enyeama put the ball onto his left post and so kept out another contender for the goal of the tournament.

Ten minutes into the second half Ferdinand defended another ball that reached the Nigerian striker Aghahowa to confirm that he is one of the best defenders at the World Cup 2002. Then a minute later, Heskey put in a decent cross from the right wing which Owen almost reached from six yards out.

With half an hour of the game left, news came through that Sweden had taken the lead against Argentina which meant that England could afford to lose this game if Sweden finished up winning.

After 75 minutes of the game an Ashley Cole cross from the left came off Michael Owen and went to substitute Teddy Sheringham but he fired his shot over the bar from a good position inside the box. A couple of minutes later, Ashley Cole almost scored a bizarre goal from the left wing near the by line when his curling cross almost went in the net but the ball hit the crossbar instead.

Both teams looked exhausted by the heat and the game ended without any more clear cut chances and with both teams wanting to hold onto the 0-0 draw. Argentina did equalise against Sweden after 88 minutes of their game but it did not alter the final group F positions.
 

Who played well:  Rio Ferdinand was easily the man of the match as he showed authority at the back - although he dropped one shot David Seaman also played well. Paul Scholes was good in midfield and almost scored with a great shot from distance.

Who could have played better: The heat meant that England could not close down the Nigerians as much as they would have wanted but Emile Heskey and David Beckham have had better games for England.

After the game the England manager, Sven Goran Eriksson said that "It was hot today and very difficult. Lets hope we have saved the goals for Saturday". Man of the match Rio Ferdinand said that this was the hottest conditions that he had played in but that "We came here to get out of the group and now we have done it we want to go as far as possible".
 

England now face Denmark on Saturday 15th June at 12.30am (British Summer time) in Niigata, Japan.

 

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Note: This England World Cup 2002 website is also available using  http://clik.to/england 

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