Final Scoreline for Match 53 (Round of 16 #5):
FRANCE - 2
(Pogba 79', Yobo 92' OG)
NIGERIA - 0
Despite the scoreline, France clearly underwhelmed throughout the entire match. There were several defensive lapses by Nigeria, but none were taken advantage of by the once free-flowing French who have clearly gone off the boil in their last couple of matches.
It took almost 80 minutes for them to find the nets, specially after being dominated for the most part of the first half by the African champions, and it was a special effort by Pogba. Karim Benzema came close to scoring at least twice, but was thwarted both times by Nigeria's fantastic keeper, Enyema, who pulled off 2 of the best saves in WC 2014 so far. The pursuit of the equaliser in the final 10 minutes + added time got a real jolt when Joseph Yobo's leg diverted the ball into his own goal, and the scoreline went beyond Nigeria's comeback efforts.
But overall, not as dominating a performance as France would have hoped to show. They need to improve a LOT in their Round of 8 encounter, specially if it's against Germany.