World Cup 2010:Nigeria 1 Colombia 1 as uncertainties rule pre- tournament friendlies across the world
Nigeria Colombia match
Lukman Haruna saved Nigeria from a pre-World Cup depression when he scored a second-half goal to force a 1-1 draw with Colombia in a friendly tie on Sunday.
Carlos Valdes gave Colombia a lead in the 12th minute of Nigeria’s next-to-last warmup game ahead of the World Cup.
Haruna tied it in the 69th minute.
Nigeria also faces North Korea in a friendly in Johannesburg June 5 before meeting two-time champion Argentina in its tournament opener on June 12.
In the other pre -tournament friendlies, William Gallas’ second-half header secured France a 1-1 draw with Tunisia while England needed two late own goals to beat Japan 2-1 in World Cup warmup action on Sunday.
The two former champions ran into tougher-than-expected games with the World Cup only 12 days away as the problems continue to mount for France coach Raymond Domenech, whose team fell behind to Issam Jomaa’s fifth-minute strike for Tunisia.
Arsenal defender Gallas, recently returned from injury, scored the equalizer in the 62nd minute to save the French.
England also had to come from behind to beat Japan in a disjointed performance which would have done little to boost manager Fabio Capello’s confidence ahead of the World Cup.
Japan defender Marcus Tanaka opened the scoring for his side before conceding an own goal to pull England level. Yuji Nakazawa then deflected a cross past his own ‘keeper, who had earlier saved Frank Lampard’s penalty.
Elsewhere, Ivory Coast blew a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Paraguay. Chelsea star Didier Drogba scored one of the Ivory Coast goals but Aureliano Torres equalized with a minute to go to complete Paraguay’s fightback.
After Tanaka had exposed some poor England set-piece defending to give Japan a seventh-minute lead, it got worse for Fabio Capello’s team when Lampard had a penalty saved by goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima.
But Tanaka headed a cross by substitute Joe Cole into his own net in the 72nd minute and Nakazawa deflected a cross by Ashley Cole past his goalkeeper in the 83rd.
“I am happy about the second half. I think we played better, faster. We found the space,” said Capello, who will name his final squad of 23 on deadline-day Tuesday. “(In the first half) we played too slow, passes wide. It was easy for the Japanese to defend.”
Like many of the warmup matches, the game was played at altitude, in the Austrian city of Graz, so that the two teams could get used to playing in the conditions they will encounter next month in South Africa.
In other games involving World Cup qualifiers, Mexico thrashed non-qualifier Gambia 5-1 with two goals each by Javier Hernandez and Adolfo Bautista, South Korea was beaten 1-0 by Belarus and Nigeria was held 1-1 by Colombia.
Alberto Medina added the fifth for Mexico, which opens the World Cup against host South Africa on June 11 and then meets former champions France and Uruguay.
After Drogba and Souleymane Bamba had fired the Ivorians 2-0 ahead by the 73rd minute, Lucas Barrios replied in the 75th for Paraguay and Torres equalized in the 89th.
“We’re still working and we still have some things to change,” Drogba said.
Paraguay faces Italy, New Zealand and Slovakia in the World Cup group stage and the Ivory Coast, now coached by Sven-Goran Eriksson, faces Brazil, Portugal and North Korea.
In the Austrian town of Kufstein, Syarhey Kislyak’s 53rd-minute goal gave non-qualifier Belarus a 1-0 victory and ended South Korea’s four-game winning streak, which included victories over Ivory Coast and Japan.
South Korea plays Spain in Innsbruck on Thursday in its final World Cup warmup match before traveling to South Africa, where it meets Greece, Argentina and Nigeria in Group B.
Carlos Valdes gave Colombia a 12th-minute lead in Nigeria’s next-to-last warmup game ahead of the competition, but Monaco midfielder Lukman Haruna leveled in the 69th.
Nigeria also faces North Korea in a friendly in Johannesburg on June 5 before meeting two-time champion Argentina in its tournament opener on June 12.
Source:AFP
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