The Internacional forward proved decisive as he guided la Celeste to a vital victory over the Super Eagles in his 100th appearance for the national teamBy Tom Webber
Diego Forlan, Nigeria -Uruguay (Confederations Cup)Diego Forlan, Nigeria - Uruguay (Confederations Cup)Uruguay picked up a hugely important three
points in Group B of the Confederations Cup as they defeated Nigeria 2-1 at the Arena Fonte Nova in
Salvador.
The South Americans started impressively and Diego Lugano, who will
miss the next game after picking up his second yellow card of the
tournament, soon broke the deadlock.
John Obi Mikel equalised with a fine finish but in the second half
Diego Forlan marked his 100th cap for the national team with the
winning goal, as Stephen Keshi's men paid the price for failing to
test Fernando Muslera for much of the game.
Uruguay began brightly but were unable to take control of the game
during the early stages as Nigeria proved a threat on the
counterattack.
La Celeste lost momentum but still opened the scoring in
the 19th minute. Forlan's deflected cross was unintentionally
dummied by Edinson Cavani at the near post and an unmarked Lugano scuffed the ball into the back of the
net.
Some last-ditch defending from Maxi Pereira stopped Brown Ideye
from getting a shot away on goal moments later while, at the other
end, Forlan was unable to squeeze a Luis Suarez cross in at the
near post with 26 minutes played.
The game had gone flat after Oscar Tabarez's side had taken the
lead, but the crowd were sparked back into life eight minutes
before the break when the Super Eagles restored parity.
Ideye fed Mikel at the top of the box and the
Chelsea midfielder jinked past the static Lugano and bent a fine
left-footed finish into the top corner.
Nigeria narrowly missed out on taking an advantage into the
interval as a scrambling Muslera did brilliantly to stop Diego
Godin from putting through his own goal with a looping header in
first-half stoppage time.
The African champions picked up where they left off following the
restart but it was Uruguay who struck next with 51 minutes on the
clock.
Suarez and Cavani combined to set up Forlan on the
left of the area and he capped a century of appearances for La
Celeste with an unstoppable, first-time finish beating Vincent
Enyeama at his near post.
The goal came as a blow to the Super Eagles and the South
Americans made it difficult for Keshi's men to break them down
by bolstering their numbers behind the ball when not in
possession.
With 20 minutes remaining Cavani wasted a glorious opportunity to
wrap up the three points as, after springing the offside trap, he
snatched at the ball and sliced his effort well off target.
The Napoli striker then ailed to hit the target again with a free
header shortly after but Tabarez's team retained their single-goal
advantage up to the final whistle.
Although they stay in third position, Uruguay will have the upper
hand heading into the final round of fixtures in Group B as they
take on Tahiti while Nigeria will face world champions Spain.
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