World Cup pre-game: France vs. Nigeria

Groups E and F square off in the Round of 16
France vs. Nigeria
•    noon pm ET, Monday, June 30
What’s at stake
•    The winner here will play the winner of Germany-Algeria on Friday July 4, in Rio de Janeiro.
•    Nigeria beat France 1-0 in their only previous head-to-head.
Impact players
France: Karim Benzema. We’ve picked him before because he keeps scoring. After a fairly quiet game against Ecuador, he’s ready to explode again.
Nigeria: Ahmed Musa. He scored two against Nigeria, and his attacking style helped put The Super Eagles into the knockout round.
What to watch for
•    France loves to attack and has a solid midfield to help control the play in their favour.
•    Nigeria’s counterattack is quick. This could work in their favour if the French get caught too far up the pitch on a quick transition.
•    In the group stage, France scored eight goals, allowing in just two. Nigeria scored only three goals, but only let in three.
They said it
‘Nigeria are a strong, fast team who have great qualities and it is going to be a really difficult match and we will have to fight.’ — Didier Deschamps, manager for France, speaking to media after his team drew their final group-stage match 0-0 against Ecuador.
‘Messi? They should have given man of the match to Musa.’ — Vincent Enyeama, Nigerian goalkeeper, thought his teammate played a better game that Messi, despite the Argentina’s 3-2 win.
The big number
1,062 — The number of minutes Enyeama went last season, while playing for Lille, during which did not let in a single goal. That’s almost 18 hours of football.
Obligatory fun fact
Musa is the first Nigerian to score more than once in a FIFA World Cup match after scoring twice against Argentina, according to Reuters.