2014 WORLD CUP SOCCER

FRANCE

vs. NIGERIA

Line:
France -277, Nigeria +700, Tie after Regulation +375
Over/Under: 2.5 Goals (Over -140, Under +110)

France looks to continue its impressive World Cup run when it opens up the knockout stage versus Nigeria on Monday.

France had little problem with Honduras to begin their World Cup quest, winning easily by a 3-0 score, and followed that up with a 5-2 pummeling of Switzerland. Although Les Blues failed to score versus Ecuador, that 0-0 draw was good enough to give them enough points to win Group E. Nigeria did not allow a goal in its first two World Cup contests, drawing 0-0 with Iran before prevailing 1-0 over Bosnia-Herzegovina to end a 16-year win drought at the World Cup that had spanned nine straight winless matches. Nigeria then played very well against heavily-favored Argentina in a virtual home match near their country's border in Porto Alegre, with the Super Eagles falling 3-2 in an entertaining, back-and-forth affair. The one bit of troubling news to Nigeria fans is the inter-squad drama going on with the players skipping practice last week in protest about their bonuses. This matter has still not been resolved.

France star forward Karim Benzema has three of his team's eight goals so far in the World Cup, with one goal apiece for forwards Olivier Giroud and Moussa Sissoko, and midfielders Blaise Matuidi and Mathieu Valbuena. Other stars for Les Blues in this tournament include midfielders Paul Pogba and Yohan Cabaye, and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris who has recorded shutouts in two of the three matches. Although France throttled Switzerland with five goals, they did allow two goals after the 80th minute of that game and got out-possessed 57% to 43%. However, Les Blues buckled down on defense in their most recent match by holding the ball for 60% of the scoreless draw versus Ecuador and reached 20 total shots for the second straight match, putting 13 of those on net. That gives the club a whopping 62 shots for the tournament, with 39 of those on net. After France committed 29 fouls and four yellow cards during their two wins, they committed only six fouls against Ecuador with zero yellow cards.

The Super Eagles were able to get a pair of goals from Ahmed Musa in their loss to Argentina, which saw them get outshot 18-12, including 13-7 for shots on goal. Nigeria had the ball for just 43% of the time. Although goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama surrendered three goals in the most recent match, he also made 10 saves, giving him 20 saves in the three World Cup contests. Nigeria trimmed its fouls from 16 versus Iran to nine against Bosnia-Herzegovina, but the Super Eagles committed 17 fouls against Argentina with defenders Kenneth Omeruo and Juwon Oshaniwa both booked for yellow cards. To pull off the huge upset, the Super Eagles know that star forward Emmanuel Emenike, who netted 15 goals in 32 games at the club level this season, will likely have to find the back of the net. But Nigeria has plenty of speedy attackers, such as Musa and Peter Odemwingie that could put France in an early hole.