The NYT Declan Hill Piece Was So Big, I Didn't Even Include My Second Pre-World Cup Point Of The Day

Shows how much of a dork I can be sometimes.

I said there were two major stories already surfaced on the World Cup, and only gave the first one.

The second was a friendly held in the UK between Scotland and Nigeria this past Wednesday (May 28, 2014).

The BBC reported on the day before the match that the home federation, the Scottish Football Association, had been alerted to the possibility that this match (and other international World Cup tune-ups) could be on the verge of being fixed events (not unlike the matches outlined in the New York Times piece I talked about earlier today).

Reactions were predictably guarded, and the match was on.

This, then, happened:

It's the 32nd minute, and Nigeria leads 1-0.

There's no dispute in this video -- the Nigerian goalkeeper, Azubuike Egwuekwe (who is on the provisional team list for Nigeria for Brazil 2014), literally throws the ball away from a header and into his own net.

The goal is disallowed for a foul, however.  The fact remains, without dispute, that Egwuekwe threw the ball into his own net for an own goal.

Courtesy of CBSSports.com's article on this incident and other games of the international soccer day, here's the Nigerian defense successfully scoring for Scotland 20 minutes later to give Scotland a 2-1 lead.

THIS MATCH WAS FIXED.  And not just by Egwuekwe, but he's the first you look at.

Ladbrokes had odds of 13-10 (+130) for the Over on 2.5 goals.

Nigeria would score late to level the match at 2-2, the final result.  A draw would've gotten you 11-5 odds (+220).