shout all over. Seems the whole Nigerian nation
was shouting at the same time. Kanu has scored
again in just 3 minutes of the extra time!!! And it
was the golden goal!!!!!
THE FULL STORY
A sudden-death goal by Nwankwo Kanu shot
Nigeria into the Olympic soccer final Wednesday
with a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over a
stunned Brazil.
forced overtime by scoring two minutes before the
end of regulation. Three minutes into overtime, he
took a ball off a teammate's back, turned a
defender around and fired in an 18-yard shot for
the clinching goal. Earlier, two scores by Flavio
and another by World Cup star Bebeto seemed to
have the Brazilians headed to a final against
South American rival Argentina. Instead, it is
Nigeria that meets Argentina in Saturday's final,
while Brazil plays Portugal on Friday for the
bronze. A crowd of 78,587 at Sanford Stadium
saw the Nigerians, who trailed 3-1 at halftime and
also missed a penalty kick, come back strongly
near the end with two goals in the last 14
minutes. Substitute Victor Ikpeba made it 3-2 in
the 76th minute and then Kanu's two goals put
the Nigerians into their first Olympic final.
Brazilians struggle to comprehend collapse
The day after the Great Soccer Collapse, there
were laments, excuses and finger-pointing. Most
of all, there was disbelief. Stunned Brazilians
groped to understand the fate that befell their
under-23 team, which on Wednesday lost a game
that as practically won, 4-3 to Nigeria in sudden
death overtime. With it, the team lost a chance to
give Brazil the only soccer prize it has never won:
the Olympic gold medal. The Brazilians now play
Portugal for bronze, while Nigeria meets
Argentina for the gold.
Nigeria defeats Argentina for gold
Late goal gives Nigeria soccer gold
An 89th-minute goal by Emmanuel Amunike gave
Nigeria its first Olympic soccer title Saturday
when it beat Argentina 3-2. Nigeria became
the first African nation to win a soccer gold medal
by upseting Argentina. Claudio Lopez fired
Argentina ahead in the second minute, then
Celestine Babayaro tied it for Nigeria in the 28th.
Argentina regained the lead when Hernan Crespo
putting home a penalty kick in the 49th minute,
but Daniel Amokachi made it 2-2 in the 75th.
Overtime looked likely until Amunike beat the
Argentine offsides trap and volleyed home a free
kick from Wilson Oruma. The bronze medal
to Brazil, which beat Portugal 5-0 Friday.
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