‘Not Over’

Group BSpain 3 Slovenia 1Paraguay 2 South Africa 2Group FArgentina 1 Nigeria 0 England 1 Sweden 1LAGOS - Nigerians remained confident on Sunday that the Super Eagles would qualify for the second round of the World Cup despite losing 1-0 to Argentina in their opening group F match.Nigeria were the first of the African teams to lose at the finals in South Korea and Japan. Debutants Senegal upset defending champions France 1-0 in their opening match while Cameroon and South Africa drew with Ireland and Paraguay respectively.Nigeria coach Adegboye Onigbinde said he was satisfied. “I was very much impressed with the performance of my boys,” he said. “We were able to check the antics of the Argentine team.”“The team as a whole played a good game but probably our attack was not strong enough, we should have been sharper but Kanu was injured early in the game.”“I am sure my players don't want to go out of the competition now. So this is going to push them to work harder. I was afraid that if we won this match, there might be some feeling of 'We have arrived'.It was a day in which favourites Argentina and under-achievers Spain got their World Cup campaigns off to bright starts but England faltered to a 1-1 draw with Sweden which left question marks over their further progress.Veteran striker Gabriel Batistuta was Argentina's hero, rising majestically to head the only goal in his team's opening match against Nigeria in Ibaraki, Japan.England made a deceptively lively start against Sweden in Saitama, taking the lead in the 24th minute when defender Sol Campbell scored his first international goal with a header from a David Beckham corner.The England captain, playing his first match for nearly two months after breaking a bone in his left foot, was substituted .England right back Danny Mills made an elementary error in the 59th minute, failing to control the ball and a despairing clearance gave midfielder Niclas Alexandersson the opportunity to crash the ball into the England goal.Spain, perennial under-achievers at the World Cup, made their first winning start in 52 years in Kwangju, South Korea, with a 3-1 victory over Slovenia. Raul Juan Carlos Valeron and Fernando Hierro scored.Sebastjan Cimirotic scored Slovenia’s first World Cup finals goal.ReuterEnds