Promise Isaac and Victor Obinna scored goals for Nigeria as they earned a place in the quarterfinals at the expense of the American squad.
The game was really decided before any scoring took place. In just the third minute of play, American defender Michael Orozco was given a red card for swinging his elbow into Nigeria’s Solomon Okoronkwo's chest with the two players fighting for the ball. "I can't say if it's justified or not," said U.S.
coach Peter Nowak, "There was a big scene from the Nigerian player, but I don't know. We didn't expect this kind of reaction. ... It's kind of unacceptable." The loss of Orozco left the U.S. squad with 10 men for the rest of the match and it was too much to overcome.
Isaac scored in the 39th minute for Nigeria as he tapped in a pass from Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi while Obinna scored in the 80th minute for Nigeria.
The United States scored on a penalty in the 88th minute as Sacha Kljestan put home the penalty shot on a low shot into the right corner. The U.S. had a great chance in the 90th minute to tie but Benny Feilhaber’s header hit the post.
Nigeria really didn’t play that well considering they had the man advantage for the entire game. "We have a good team when it's not playing like this," Nigeria coach Samson Siasia said, "You go out there and play with showboating ... if we don't take care of these things, we're going to have a lot of problems."
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The U.S. team never gave up even though they were shorthanded. What also hurt the American was that leading striker Freddy Adu missed the match due to suspension. "The last five minutes with the 50-60,000 chanting U-S-A, it was quite a feeling about what it means to be in these tournaments," said U.S. coach Peter Nowak. "We were very close, even when we play with 10 men. We never give up." Check the 2008 Olympics Medal Standings.
