diego forlan marked his 100th appearance for uruguay with a brilliant left-footed drive to see his side beat nigeria 2-1 and put themselves in a strong position to qualify for the fıfa confederations cup semi-finals.
uruguay captain diego lugano had given his side the lead with a scuffed effort from a forlan cross, before john obi mikel levelled with a goal on his 50th nigerian cap.
the game was fragmented in the opening stages, but the cagey affair sparked into life thanks to the uruguay skipper.
forlan received the ball on the uruguay left and drilled a cross towards edinson cavani. the napoli forward tried to flick the ball on at the near post but did not connect and diego lugano had the simple task of nudging the ball into the net.
nigeria responded after uruguay failed to capitalise on their advantage. brown ıdeye played the ball into mikel, who skipped past goalscorer lugano and placed a left-footed shot past the despairing fernando muslera.
nigeria pressed in the closing stages of the first half, but they could not convert their possession into meaningful opportunities. uruguay then came out with renewed purpose in the second half and it was a fairytale goal just five minutes after the interval.
cavani received the ball in space in between the nigeria defence and midfield and laid the ball on for forlan. the 34-year-old let the ball run across his body before dispatching a left-footed drive into the top corner. he became the second centurion, after andrea pirlo on sunday, to mark his 100th cap with a goal in this tournament.
cavani had several good opportunities to extend uruguay’s lead, skewing a shot wide after going clear and heading past the post when left unmarked from a free kick.
the napoli forward’s profligacy did not matter though, as forlan’s centenary strike sees his side head into the final group game against tahiti in a strong position to qualify. nigeria face spain in fortaleza, with la roja needing a point to guarantee their place in the semi-finals.
lugano başladı, forlan bitirdi: 1-2 konfederasyon kupası'nda ilk maçını ispanya'ya kaybeden uruguay, ikinci maçında nijerya'yı geçmeyi başardı.
fıfa konfederasyon kupası b grubu'nda uruguay, ikinci maçını nijerya ile oynadı.
maça iyi bir başlangıç yapan uruguay, 19. dakikada eski fenerbahçeli oyuncu diego lugano ile öne geçmeyi başardı. soldan forlan'ın yerden ortasına edinson cavani topukla dokunmak istedi ancak başaramadı. kale önünde bekleyen lugano'nun kısa dokunuşu ile top ağlara gitti ve uruguay öne geçti. 37. dakikada john obi mikel, ceza alanı içinde lugano'yu çalımlayarak attığı golle eşitliği sağladı.
ilk yarı 1-1 sona erdi.
ikinci yarıda uruguay'ı galibiyete götüren golü veteran isim diego forlan kaydetti. galatasaray'ın kalecisi fernando muslera mücadelede 90 dakika forma giydi.
b grubu'nda ispanya 6 puanla liderliğini korurken, uruguay ve nijerya 3'er puanla takip ediyorlar. tahiti'nin ise puanı bulunmuyor. uruguay gruptaki son maçını tahiti ile, nijerya ise ispanya ile oynayacak.
yardımcı hakemler: sander van roekel (ned), erwin zeinstra (ned)
4. hakem: pedro proenca (por)
5. hakem: bertino miranda (por)
maç komiseri: eric labrador (pur)
nigeria: vincent enyeama (gk)(c), godfrey oboabona, uwa echiejile, john ogu (dk. 66 sunday mba), efe ambrose, ahmed musa, brown ideye (dk. 73 joseph akpala), john obi mikel, fegor ogude, nnamdi oduamadi (dk. 45 michael babatunde), kenneth omeruo
uruguay: fernando muslera (gk), diego lugano (c), diego godin, cristian rodriguez (dk. 88 alvaro pereira), luis suarez (dk. 83 sebastian coates), diego forlan, maximiliano pereira, egidio arevalo, alvaro gonzalez, edinson cavani, martin caceres
yedekler: juan castillo (gk), martin silva (gk), walter gargano, sebastian eguren, abel hernandez, matias aguirregaray, nicolas lodeiro, diego perez, gaston ramirez, andres scotti,
teknik direktör: óscar tabárez (uru)
goller: 0-1 diego lugano dk. 19 1-1 john obi mikel dk. 37 1-2 diego forlan dk. 51
sarı kartlar: michael babatunde (nga) 60, joseph akpala (nga) 74, diego lugano (uru) 79, sebastian coates (uru) 84
uzatma süreleri: first half: 3 second half: 5
dip not: [i] = sakat [a] = yok [n] = oynamaya uygun değil
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