The gap between Nigeria and Uruguay is huge but only two games have been played between these two teams in Group B so anything could happen moving forward. The Super Eagles had the luck of kicking off their Confederation Cup 2013 campaign against the weakest side of the tournament, Tahiti.
Meanwhile, La Celeste Olimpica had the opposite – a meeting with the world’s highest-ranked nation, Spain. At the end of Matchday 1, the table placed the Africans on top with a (+6) goal difference while the South Americans were placed third with no point after kicking off their 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup campaign on a bad note last weekend.
The clash between the Nigerians and the Uruguayans on June 20 will certainly showcase t he true strength of both sides.
Where can I watch the Nigeria vs Uruguay game?
You can watch this game live online and on television
- In Canada, USA and UK: Sportsnet World, TLN Telelatino / BBC Three / ESPN3, UniMás, ESPN2, ESPN, Univision Deportes, ESPN Mobile TV, Watch ESPN
- Elsewhere in the world: Click on the Nigeria vs Uruguay match page.
At what time does the Nigeria vs Uruguay game start?
LiveSoccerTV.com has full TV schedule listings of this fixture and the start time on the match page appears as your computer’s local time. The time and date to watch Nigeria and Uruguay clash at the Arena Fonte Nova is:
Thursday, June 19, 2013 at 15:00 EST / 16:00 local time (Brazil) / 19:00 GMT / 20:00 BST / 21:00 CET
Pre-match build-up
Nigerian news source AllSports.com reported that AFCON 2013 winning coach Stephen Keshi was not pleased by his players’ wastefulness against the Tahitians on Monday but he was quick to switch his focus on Thursday’s Confederations Cup Matchday 2 fixture.
“We had some chances [against Tahiti]. They [the players] needed to bury the goals,” Keshi moaned before concluding:
“I’m happy with how we did and we’ll see how we get on against Uruguay.”
The Uruguayans displayed a performance that was well below their average best against Spain. It was as if they had lost the mental battle even before kick-off as Suarez seemingly confessed in an interview with FIFA.com.
However, his piece of wonder from a free-kick in the dying moments of the match almost lifted the CONMEBOL champions to an astonishing late comeback. Oscar Tabarez, who guided Uruguay to the semi-finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, will be keen to see his men react right from the start of the game.
Building momentum in the initial stages will be key to embarrass the confident Nigerians. Uruguay are expecting to take full advantage of the Tahitians on Matchday 3 of the Confederations Cup 2013 tournament. Evidently, taking points away from the Super Eagles will be the turning point. Even a draw on Thursday could be good enough, knowing that Nigeria still have to face hot favourites Spain.
“The matches we’ve got coming up are different and we are feeling optimistic. Uruguayans are used to having it tough,” the Liverpool striker told FIFA.com.
In fact, his goal last Sunday was crucial. It did not offer his team a single point against La Furia Roja but it certainly boosted their belief – the belief that La Celeste Olimpica can make gold out of virtually nothing. Unless Nigeria correct their wastefulness and prevent their defence from being exposed as it was against minnows Tahiti, they could end the game against Uruguay with much regret.
Confirmed line-ups
Nigeria starting line-up: Enyeama, Oboabona, Echiejile, Ogu, Ambrose, Musa, Ideye, Mikel, Ogude, Oduamadi, Omeruo
Uruguay starting line-up: Muslera, Lugano, Godin, Rodriguez, Suarez, Forlan, Pereira, Arevalo, Gonzalez, Cavani, Caceres
