Karim Benzema to lead France in World Cup last 16(SportingAlert.com) — The World Cup round of 16 continues on Monday with France v Nigeria and Germany v Algeria, as two more quarter-finals places are up for grab.
Live coverage of the games will be at 12pm and 4pm ET, respective, on ESPN, ESPN3.com, ESPN,Univision, ESPN3.com, UnivisionDeportes.com and WatchESPN. Other live providers are beIN Sports 1 HD, beIN Sports 2 HD, beIN Sports 11 HD, beIN Sports 13 HD, Nederland 1, NOS Live Streaming, STV Scotland, ITV 1 UK, BBC Radio 5 Live, UTV, ITV Player, RTE 2, RTE Player, TalkSport Radio, ZDF, ZDF Sport Live Stream, Zattoo, CBC Sports Live Streaming.
France v Nigeria
At the Estadio Nacional in Brasilia, Karim Benzema and France will take on a very determined Nigeria side with both teams bracing for a tough and challenging battle.
France will welcome back PSG midfielder Yohan Cabaye, who served a one match suspension in the last group stage game, but defender Mamadou Sakho remains doubtful for the contest because of a thigh injury.
All eyes will be on Real Madrid forward Benzema to see if he continue his good scoring form at the tournament. The striker has three goals and two assists in three games so far at the 2014 World Cup, while he’s scored nine goals in his last nine outings for France.
Nigeria, meanwhile, comes into this fixture after finishing second to Argentina in their group and will be in confident mood, despite losing their last game. The Super Eagles were beaten 3-2 by Lionel Messi and company in their last World Cup game of the group stage, but head coach Stephen Keshi says the team has taken a lot of positive from that contest that will help them against France.
Nigeria also see this as a great opportunity to progress to the quarter-finals for the first time in their history and will be more determined to beat the highly gifted Frenchmen.
They are also seeking to become only the fourth African nation to appear in the quarter-finals of the World Cup. Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010) have done this at previous tournaments.
Germany v Algeria
World Cup last 16 game two on Monday will see Germany facing a very tricky Algeria side, which finished second to Belgium in Group H. This game is being played at the Estadio Beira-Rio in Porto Alegre.
Algeria, making their World Cup debut in the knockout stage, comes into the game with no pressure as they look to continue their mini success over the European giants. The African side has beaten Germany in their last two meetings, but head into this contest knowing that all the focus will be on their opponents, who are the favourites.
Germany, in the meantime, acknowledged that they are the favourites to book a quarter-finals place, but will not take anything for granted against an Algeria side which proved that they can score goals, especially on the counter-attack.
Attacker Mario Gotze, who was rested against USA in the last group stage game, is set to return to the starting lineup, but Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski misses out due to a thigh injury he suffered in the last game.
Sami Khedira could also return to the setup after he was rested against the United States. Bastian Schweinsteiger started that game, which Germany won 1-0 to top the group.
