Nigeria beat Germany to reach Under-17 World Cup final

Nigeria reached the final of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup Thursday, defeating Germany 3-1 in the South Korean city of Suwon.

The African regional champions will face Spain in Sunday's final in Seoul.

In an entertaining first half, Nigeria struck first, with Macauley Chrisantus scoring his tournament-leading seventh goal in the 10th minute.

German goalkeeper Rene Vollath could not hold on to a shot by Yakubu Alfa and Chrisantus was all alone in front of goal to bang home the loose ball.

Eight minutes later, Alfa scored following another mistake by Vollath, with what appeared to be a harmless left-foot kick.

The ball went straight to the German keeper from outside the penalty box but it spun off his hands and into the net to give the Nigerians a two-goal cushion.

German skipper Tony Kroos pulled a goal back in the 33rd minute, dribbling past defender Kingsley Udoh and firing past Oladele Ajiboye.

Germany nearly equalised in the 38th minute, when Richard Sukuta-Pasu's diving header hit a post. A minute later, Chrisantus was one-on-one with Vollath but his shot rolled wide of the right post.

There were few scoring chances for either side in the second half, as Nigeria sat back to protect their lead. In the 62nd minute, German Kevin Wolze received a fine pass from Kroos but could not beat Ajiboye.

The last goal of the game followed a bizarre turn of events. Just moments before the final whistle, Chrisantus had a goal disallowed for offside.

Vollath picked the ball out of the net and kicked it to a defender. But the ball was carelessly passed back towards Vollath, and Kabiru Akinsola intercepted it and lobbed it over the hapless keeper.

Nigeria will be chasing their third win in this tournament on Sunday at the Seoul World Cup Stadium. Germany will face Ghana in the third-place playoff match, also in Seoul.

2010 World Cup enters "operational phase" in S.Africa

Preparation for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa has entered its "operational phase", the chief executive officer of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), Dany Jordaan, said on Thursday.

"The 1,000 days countdown signals to us now the beginning of the operational phase", he told a press conference ahead of the symbolic September 15 date marking 1,000 days to the start of the world soccer fiesta.

He enumerated LOC's achievements so far: "selection of nine host cities, signing of contracts with cities, finalisation of legislation, establishment of right committees, finalisation of match schedule, selection of management team and start of construction site.

"The first thing to deliver is preliminary draw for the qualifying phase", scheduled for November 27 in Durban, he added.

More than 3,000 officials of the LOC, FIFA, national coaches, notable names in footbal and media are expected at Durban ceremony.

Then, the "Confederation Cup", will follow in 2009 in five South African stadia which should be ready "in December 2008", he also said.

"To build all our stadia on time is a huge challenge ... we believe we have the winning formula."

"Yes, we will have difficulties in stadium construction, but we are confident in the capacity of the construction industry in this country."

To mark the "countdown to 1,000 days to the competition", the LOC has planned series of events, especially in capital Pretoria, for September 15.

"We would like to assert to the world and South Africans that the different institutions involved in the organisation are confident that we are on course that we will host a wonderful World Cup," said Jordaan without giving further details on the programme of activities.