CAN THE NIGERIAN TEAM MAKE IT TO THE NEXT ROUND?

Nigeria Under-20s won a one-sided contest against their Tahitian counterparts in Cairo, but it may not be good enough to see them qualify for the next stage.

Tahiti were pressed back during the opening stages, and their defence was breached after 15 minutes. Omatsone Aluko combined well with King Osanga, and Obiora Nwankwo finished off the move to put the Africans in front.

In fact, the minnows could have levelled matters when Steevy Chong Hue found himself one-on-one with Uche Okafor, but the Nigerian keeper made a good stop with his legs.

The Flying Eagles' nerves were eased when Ibok Edet headed home a 24th minute corner amid some slack marking from the Tahiti defence, and the lead was soon extended.

Kehinde Fatai got past Tehvarii Ludivion to latch onto another corner and calmly side-footed home after half an hour.

Lorenzo Tehau was sent off for a second bookable offence just before half-time, and moments later the lead was 4-0 as Nurudeen Orelesi's cross curled into the net.

Goal difference will be the key for Nigeria if they are to qualify, but they were unable to find a fifth goal until after Tahiti went down to nine men for the second time in two games. Alvin Tehau, brother of Lorenzo, was sent off for two yellow cards with 15 minutes to go.

Daniel Adejo finally found another goal in injury time, but Nigeria must now wait until the other groups are over to see if they will qualify from third place in Group B.

PELE CAUSES CONTROVERSY ..........................

THE Footballing legend Pele making a controversy statement by mistakenly referring to United States basketball legend Michael Jordan as "Michael Jackson", the late pop star artist.Pele in brasil is part of Rio de Janeiro’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games, and was making a speech in Rio ahead of the International Olympic Committee session in Copenhagen that will choose the winner on Friday.

The other bids come from Tokyo, Madrid and Chicago, with President Obama travelling to Denmark personally in order to help the American city.

When sponsoring Rio, Pele attempted to win points over Chicago by referring to the fact that Jordan, who is the city’s most recognised person, was absent from their delegation.However, in an embarrassing error, Pele referred to Jordan as “Michael Jackson”, the legendary pop signer who recently passed away.

The room then burst into laughter, but Pele dug an even deeper hole for himself as he attempted to get over the gaffe by joking that they were “two Michaels”.
Pele is known affectionately in some circles as ‘The Jinx’ due to his numerous wrong predictions and bizarre quotes over the years, and there are some who fear that this blunder may now cost Rio de Janeiro their chance of hosting the 2016 Olympic Games.