A narrow win in the third group game was enough to give the U.S. women top spot in Group This was a no brainer, in a lot of ways. Change the lineup and put on some veterans and let the game come to them. It’s what the U.S. needed. It’s what Abby Wambach needed — though it turned out that Wambach didn’t need to use her head. Instead, the world’s all-time leading soccer goal scorer let her foot do the talking.
After much consternation about the lack of U.S. goal scoring in this 2015 Women’s World Cup, it was Wambach who lept to greet a Megan Rapinoe corner kick cross and got enough air underneath to get her boot on the ball. It took a lot longer than Wambach would have liked — and not just because her goal came in the 45th minute to give the U.S. a 1-0 victory against Nigeria on Tuesday night.
It was the all-time leading scorer’s first goal of this Women’s World Cup, a long wait that created all kinds of angst and headaches for the Wambach. After the scoreless draw against Sweden in the second game of group play, the scoring dry spell was so worrisome that it prompted Wambach to question the role that the astroturf was playing in this tournament.
It was no secret that Wambach and dozens of other national team players from around the world were angry about FIFA’s unwillingness to force Canada’s soccer officials to use grass at the World Cup venues. Some called that an excuse, especially since Wambach admitted that she was not playing as carefree or laying out as fully as she would if the games were being played on grass.
But finally, Wambach was on the board and the U.S. has secured its way into the Round of of 16. They will play Monday in Edmonton against either England or Colombia.
This might be Canada, but this was a night for the Americans. They were on the field, desperate, almost, to prove they could seize control of this 2015 Women’s World Cup, and their red, white & blue-clad fans packed the B.C. Place stands. The attendance was 52,193.
Everyone seemed to get a lift from the lineup changes made by head coach Jill Ellis, who started Alex Morgan and Wambach up top and added Tobin Heath at outside midfield. And while the trio did not open the floodgates on scoring for the frustrated U.S. side, their presence and impact were immediately noticeable.
hdraw the suit.
The two witnesses who had appeared before the court, Haruna Rasheed and Omotayo Alade-Fawole, testified that the publication of Obasanjo’s letter in the media portrayed Kashamu in a bad light and destroyed their long years of business relationship with him.
But before he could call his third witness, Kashamu on December 5, 2014, moved the court to grant an order restraining Obasanjo from going ahead with the public presentation of his book, “My Watch.”
Kashamu had anchored the prayer on the grounds that the book touched on the subject matter of the libel suit.
But Obasanjo had shunned the court order and went ahead to present the book in Lagos on December 9, 2014.
The plaintiff, however, returned to court on December 10, to report that Obasanjo had flouted the December 5 court order.
Justice Ashi, in a ruling, held that Obasanjo was in contempt of court for flouting his order and directed the various security agencies to seize the copies of the books wherever they were found.
The judge also gave Obasanjo 21 days to show cause why he should not be punished for contempt.
The judge later lifted all orders against Obasanjo in a ruling delivered in April following counter arguments by Obasanjo’s lawyer, Mahmud Magaji (SAN).
