By I never caught either of these games. The Junior Club was running at work during the first game and I had popped to Steve and Jo's for a meeting concerning the roleplaying club's website whilst the second game was on.
Kalu Uche gave Nigeria a 1-0 lead with a free-kick after 16 minutes. Nigeria's Sanu Kaita stupidly and unnecessarily kicked out at Vassilis Torosidis after 33 minutes and referee Oscar Ruiz produced a red card. Dimitris Salpingidis levels things up just before half-time, thanks in no small part to a huge deflection off Haruna Lukman. Greece's advantage showed in the second half and on 72 minutes Alexandros Tziolis' shot finds it's way back out to Vassilis Torosidis who pounces to give the Greeks a 2-1 advantage.
In the second game Mexico scored 2 second-half goals thanks to new Manchester United recruit Javier Hernandez, who beat the offside trap on 64 minutes and rounded Hugo Lloris to score. Eric Abidal fouled Pablo Barrera in the area and veteran Cuauhtemoc Blanco scored from the spot after 79 minutes.
The result condemns France to the uncertainty of having to beat South Africa in their final game and then hoping that the Uruguay vs Mexico ends up very one-sided. South Africa are in the exact same position in that they need to beat France and hope for a lop-sided game too. It's all well and good that FIFA decreed final group games should kick off at the same time to stop a repeat of the Austria and West Germany fiasco of 1982 that eliminated Algeria. However, Uruguay and Mexico go into their final game knowing that a draw between them would be enough to elimate France and South Africa.
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