Tahiti line-up: Samin, A. Tehau, Vahirua (Atani, 70'), Ludivion, Caroine, Bourebare, Vallar (Faatiarau, 54'), Chong Hue, Aitamai, J. Tehau, Simon (Lemaire, 78')
Nigeria line-up: Enyeama, Oboabona, Echiejile, Ambrose, Omeruo (Egwueke, 74'), Mikel, Ogude, Mba (Ogu, 57'), Musa, Ujah (Brown, 51'), Oduamadi
Nigeria begin the Confederations Cup in the way that everyone expected them to, with a convincing victory over minnows Tahiti. For many, a 6-1 defeat would be considered as a horror show, but it's probably the best the French Polynesians could have hoped for. A goal for Jonathan Tehau could end up being the highlight of the tournament for Tahiti, who gained many supporters and a lot of respect for quite a good performance.
Contrary to many people's predictions, Tahiti never sat back with a deep line just ushering Nigeria on to them and actually looked to attack whenever possible. This began from the outset with Steevy Chong Hue looking promising down the wing. But the optimism was quickly kicked out of them after just five minutes when they went behind in unfortunate circumstances; Uwa Echiejile hit a shot from just outside the box which looked like Xavier Samin was diving to cover. But the ball took a touch of Jonathan Tehau before taking a bigger deflection off Nicolas Vallar and wrong footing the keeper to give the African Champions the lead.
Tahiti weren't deterred though and continued to attack with their only professional player, Marama Vahirua, hitting a shot that Vincent Enyeama had to tip over. But fears for a cricket score began to grow stronger when Nigeria scored second after just ten minutes; a poor pass from the Tahitians was pounced upon by John Obi Mikel who then played Nnamdi Oduamadi through on goal. Oduamadi made no mistake with his effort and coolly finished it.
A lot of the match was about Nigeria taking the biscuit by trying to overplay and humiliate Tahiti in to conceding goals. But this somewhat backfired and if Nigeria had focused a little more on shooting, they may have scored a few more. Instead, there was a lot of missed chances and some comical performances from the Nigerian front line.
Nigeria were then gifted a third after missing a couple of glorious chances. It came on 26-minutes when Ahmed Musa found space down the wing and sent a low cross across the box. It looked like a relatively easy collect for Samin but he somehow spilt it and the ball fell to Oduamadi who tapped home his second of the match.
Again, this didn't stop Tahiti from playing nor did it harm Samin's confidence. There were more moments where the Nigerians found themselves one on one with the keeper but Samin managed to dive at the feet and win the ball every time. The roof was nearly lifted just past the half hour mark when Chong Hue again broke down the wing and began to run towards goal. The winger then played the ball across for Alvin Tehau to tap in from a yard but Kenneth Omeruo was there to put it out from a corner deny Tahiti from their piece of history.
Nigeria continued to waste chances in the second half, this time they resorted to low crosses across the empty box for one of their strikers to tap home. The first of which came from Oduamadi, but Musa somehow mis-timed his effort and shanked it wide.
Nine minutes in and history was made, the samba beat was mixed with Pacific pride as Tahiti surpassed everyone's expectations and scored. It came from a corner which went all the way to the back post where Jonathan Tehau came running in to beat Efe Ambrose and head the ball in to the back of the net.
Nigeria thought they had made it 4-1 on 68-minutes when another low cross was this time tapped home by Oduamadi for his perceived hat-trick. But Tahiti were given a gift because the linesman put his flag up for offside even though replays suggest that Oduamadi was level. But Nigeria did get their fourth just a minute later when Oduamadi again took advantage of a poor pass. He sent another low cross along the six yard where Jonathan Tehau was unfortunate to be there and put the ball in to his own net.
As the match wore on, it was clear that Tahiti were tiring in the wake of their best ever opponents. Oduamadi managed to finally get his hat-trick on 76-minutes in a replay to his offside goal. This time it was substitute Ideye Brown who put the ball across for Oduamadi to tap home in to empty net. The sixth and final goal came four minutes later when Samin again failed to hold on to a cross. This time it fell to Echiejile who would score a goal all on his own this time.
Despite being physically tired, Tahiti still continued to attack. Jonathan Tehau tried to make amends for his unfortunate own goal but taking a decent shot that went just wide. Substitute Stanley Atani also had a speculative shot from long range that was easily stopped by Enyeama. But Tahiti definitely performed better than many thought and have done themselves proud. It's just the small matter of Spain next for the small island nation.
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