FIFA World Cup: France vs Nigeria

France booked their place in the quarterfinals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup with a gruelling 2-0 victory over African champions Nigeria, who failed to overcome their second round jinx at the World Cup finals.The match seemed to be headed into extra-time before Paul Pogba broke the deadlock in the seventy-ninth minute to send French fans into raptures. Antoine Griezmann, a second half-substitute, then coerced an own-goal out of Joseph Yobo to make the equation more comfortable for the 1998 world champions and break African hearts.Here are the five main talking points fromthe match:

#1 Turning point- Antoine Griezmanns arrival

In the sixty-second minute, Didier Deschamps decided to make his first substitution of the game, a change he should have made much earlier.

An uninspiring Olivier Giroud was taken off and was replaced by Real Sociedad sensation Antoine Griezmann. It was a much-needed change in personnel for France but more importantly, it gave Benzema the license to move back into his natural role of a centre forward.

The move worked wonders as Griezmann’s pace and creativity sparked life into a clueless French attack. Benzema was afforded more space as he started to utilize the channels in between Nigeria’s defence.

The seeds of the substitution bore fruits almost instantly as Enyeama was forced into a couple of brilliant saves by Benzema.

Griezmann’s fresh legs were too hot to handle for Nigeria’s right back Efe Ambrose and wave after wave of French attacks finally broke the African resistance in the last quarter of the game.

Griezmann then capped off his match-turning cameo and confirmed France’s passage to the last-8 when his bursting run resulted in Joseph Yobo’s unfortunate deflection into his own goal.

#2 Man of the match - Paul Pogba

It’s been a quite a couple of seasons for Paul Pogba. From Manchester United’s reserve side to a key member of the Scudetto winning Juventus team, Pogba has now announced himself on the international arena.

Pogba’s contribution to France’s hard-fought victory over Nigeria was immense. His composure and creativity perfectly complemented Blaise Matuidi’s industrious work-ethic in the midfield.

Pogba made some intelligent runs forward, one of which almost resulted in a goal in the first half but for an acrobatic save by the Nigerian goalkeeper. He covered all areas of the pitch, won crucial headers and provided a substantial degree of physicality to the French side.

He broke the deadlock with a looping header and France would be thankful to this youngster for showing shrewd presence of mind. Pogba has cemented his berth in the national side after a couple of impressive displays and will remain a crucial piece of Deschamps’ jigsaw in tougher games to come at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

#3 Benzema needs to play in his natural role

A major contributing factor to France’s less than impressive showing in the first sixty minutes of the game was Deschamps decision to play Giroud as the lone striker, with the in-form Benzema shifted to the left flank.

Giroud, apart from his solitary goal against the hapless Swiss, had looked short of ideas infront of goal in the group stages. His precarious situation back at Arsenal, where Arsene Wenger is hot in the pursuit of another striker, might also have been bothering the former Montpellier man.

Benzema, on the other hand, looked extremely sharp all season with Real Madrid and has carried his prolific form to the World Cup finals and already has 3 goals and 2 assists to his name in three group matches.

Therefore, for Deschamps to relegate the better of his two strikers to a position he is not comfortable playing in was the most bewildering aspect of France’s tactics for this match.

As soon as Giroud was subbed off and Benzema was drafted back into this natural role, the Madrid man flourished, striking an instant understanding with Griezmann and Valbuena. He was denied his fourth goal of the campaign by a fantastic one-on-one save by Enyeama. This pre-quarterfinal match will definitely put Benzema’s indispensability as a striker into perspective for Deschamps.

#4 Nigeria needed to exploit Frances left flank

As soon as the French team sheet came out, one fact was abundantly clear - Didier Deschamps had taken the bold step of risking three central midfielders with two natural strikers.

This tactical ploy meant that France were being set up without enough natural width on atleast one of the flanks, with Valbuena expected to marshal either of the wings.

Stephen Keshi missed a trick in this respect when he perceptibly failed to communicate this aspect of France’s tactical setup to his players ahead of the game. With Benzema deployed as a makeshift winger cum inside forward, Nigeria were left with a lot of space on their right flank which they failed to take advantage of.

Most of Nigeria’s attacks came down their crowded left flank, which was manned by the industrious Valbuena and Debuchy with the able support of Yohan Cabaye.

Victor Moses, who started on the right wing for Nigeria, didn’t see enough of the ball in the first half to make any sort of impact. Benzema’s inherent proclivity to move into a central position could’ve been better exploited by the Nigerian side.

By the time Nigeria did start to probe into French territory through this channel, it was too late as Deschamps plugged the hole by sending Griezmann on for Giroud.

#5 From hero to zero in a matter of minutes- Vincent Enyeama

This World Cup has been only about two goalkeepers and the instant name and fame they’ve earned with their performances- Mexico’s Guillermo Ochoa and Costa Rica’s Keylor Navas.

But there’s been one goalkeeper who has gone almost unnoticed amidst all the admiration for the aforementioned goalkeepers. That shot-stopper is Nigeria’s Vincent Enyeama.

With Messi’s mesmerising goals and Ahmed Musa’s arrival on the big stage occupying a major chunk of the international media’s attention in Group E, Enyeama’s herculean efforts against Argentina, Iran and Bosnia were overlooked.

But the Lille player wasn’t to be disheartened as he again put in an exceptional showing with some breathtaking saves in the match. Be it the acrobatic dive off Pogba’s shot in the first half or the twin saves from Benzema in the second, Enyeama saved his country the blushes on a number of occasions.

But as fate would have it, it was him, ironically, who made an error in judging the flight of a corner which was punished by Paul Pogba, who headed the ball into an empty net for France’s first goal.