WOLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FIRST ROUND : Man in the Middle Leads Nigeria to Debut Victory

The big guy in the middle from Nigeria can play. He showed that to America and the rest of the world Tuesday night.

It wasn’t Hakeem Olajuwon this time. No, this dream was turned in by Rashidi Yekini, who scored the opening goal and assisted on another as the Super Eagles won their World Cup debut 3-0 over Bulgaria.

It was the biggest World Cup victory by an African nation and marked the second consecutive impressive start for a new finalist from Africa. Cameroon was the sensation of the 1990 World Cup, reaching the quarterfinals.

Like Olajuwon, a former Nigerian junior goalie who has the Houston Rockets in Wednesday night’s decisive seventh game of the NBA Finals, Yekini had a strong supporting cast.

Daniel Amokachi scored on a brilliant bump-and-run late in the first half, and Emmanuel Amunike added a third goal on a diving header in the 55th minute.

Peter Rufat also made several sensational saves in Nigeria’s goal, soaring to grab high balls and staying firm on shots in close. And Nigeria’s defense, with four men back, never allowed Bulgaria to get into a rhythm.

But it was Yekini who was the star. Africa’s soccer player of the year and the scorer of almost half of Nigeria’s goals as it qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time, he was in the spotlight.

The 6-foot-3 striker easily won the battle of headliners with Hristo Stoichkov, the fleet forward for Bulgaria, which still is looking for its first World Cup victory. It has 11 losses and six ties in 17 final-round appearances.

Yekini went to the middle, lean into defenders and wait for the chance. He went to the wing to flick passes to cutting teammates and disrupt the offensive flow with quick sprints into passing lanes.

Nigeria controlled the midfield and the corners. It dictated the tempo, which was too fast for Bulgaria. And it came away with an impressive victory, the only one by the three first-time World Cup teams thus far. Saudi Arabia and Greece, also in their cup debuts, lost their openers.