A lone goal from Peter Odemwingie midway into the first half was enough to give Nigeria their first win in the 2014 World Cup.
Coming off unimpressive performances – Nigeria only got a scoreless draw against Iran and Bosnia-Herzegovina lost to Argentina – both sides needed to turn things around if they wanted to maintain themselves alive on their quest to make it to the Round of 16.
After both sides created a number of chances and it was clear that the match was going to be quite open from the start. Bosnia-Herzegovina had the first clear chance when Edin Dzeko had a goal disallowed incorrectly by an offside position and the European side would end up regretting that.
Nigeria grabbed a second air following Dzeko’s disallowed goal and they broke the deadlock near the 30th minute. A good play from Emmanuel Emenike on the right flank generated a low cross that was met by Peter Odemwingie. The striker placed a shot between the left of Asmir Begovic to put The Super Eagles on the lead.
Nigeria’s goal hit Bosnia really hard. Despite the fact that Miralem Pjanic and Edin Dzeko tried to move the team forward, Nigeria had the better chances and Emenike continued to look like the most dangerous player until the end of the first half.
The second half showed a Bosnian side that looked much more aggressive on the attack but they struggled mightily, lacking quality in the final meters. Nigeria, on the other hand, decided to protect their lead but carried a lot of danger when they moved on the attack. The African side had a clear chance in the 55th minute when a shot from outside the box was cleared away by Begovic.
Bosnia-Herzegovina wanted to change their attacking scheme and entered Vedad Ibisevic and Sejad Salihovic before the 60th minute mark, looking to add more company upfront to Edin Dzeko. However, the strategy didn’t seem to work and both Michel Babatunde and Emmanuel Emenike had clear chances to score a second goal for the current African champions.
Ibisevic had a good chance in the 67th minute after a good combination of passes but his shot was deflected at the last minute by a Nigerian defender. The same attacker had another chance in the 73th minute with a header following a corner, but his effort went high and wide.
Bosnia didn’t show a lot on both ends of the pitch and while they certainly are a talented squad, they looked constantly overmatched against a Nigerian side that won all the physical battles. The loss eliminates the European side from the tournament and they will try to get their first points of the tournament the next week in their final match against Iran. The Super Eagles, on the other hand, will face Argentina knowing that a draw will send them to the next round.