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BRASILIA, Brazil - After being touted as one of the World Cups entertainers, it was a gritty performance which got France through to the quarterfinals in a 2-0 victory over Nigeria on Monday. Frances forward line had made headlines with eight goals in its opening two group games, but there was little flair on display in a hard-fought contest against the African champions. France needed a late header from midfielder Paul Pogba and an injury-time own goal from defender Joseph Yobo to overcome a robust Nigeria. The reward is a quarterfinal against Germany on Friday at Rio de Janeiros Maracana stadium, following the Germans 2-1 victory over Algeria. Pogbas goal in the 79th minute followed Nigerias best spell of the match and came soon after France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris had made a crucial save to deny Peter Odemwingie. "Were not the prettiest or the best, but we can do good things," France coach Didier Deschamps said after the game. "The deliverance came late. There was a lot of tension because we were up against a very athletic side and there were a lot of challenges." Nigeria, which had a goal ruled out for offside in the 19th minute after Emmanuel Emenike poked home Ahmed Musas cross from the left, wasted a lot of second-half possession. Four years ago, France crashed out of the group stage, shamed a nation by going on strike and was jeered by its own fans and lambasted by politicians in the fallout from an embarrassing tournament. Its very different situation now. "Im proud of my players because were coming back from very far. I think weve given a lot of pleasure back to our fans," Deschamps said. "I think there were 5,000 here and millions back home who will feel proud." Pogbas crucial goal came after Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama had just made a superb save to tip over Karim Benzemas header. But he he flapped at the ball from the ensuing corner and Pogba pounced in the 79th minute for his first World Cup goal. That atoned for placing a volley too close to Enyeama in a scrappy first half. Scoring such a crucial goal will boost his confidence heading into the last eight game. "We have four days left to prepare for another battle," Deschamps said. Yobo, who announced his international retirement after the game, turned the ball into his own net in stoppage time under pressure from France substitute Antoine Griezmann. At the final whistle, Frances relieved players danced in front of their fans as dreams of a repeat run to the final — just like in 2006 — moved a step closer. "We had the whole country behind us," Pogba said. "Its one of the proudest moments of my life." France started slowly and finished strongly in the second round match. "Ive yet to see a team play well over the whole 90 minutes," Deschamps said. "Nigeria dropped off a bit and that allowed us to get on top." After Griezmann came on, Benzema finally came alive in the 70th, opening up the defence after a clever one-two with the France substitute. After Enyeama blocked Benzemas initial shot, his follow-up effort was hacked clear by Victor Moses. Video technology confirmed that the ball had not crossed the line. France failed to show the attacking flair of previous games, with Giroud skewing a shot wide early on. He also appeared to elbow John Obi Mikel in an off-the ball incident, having done the same in last weeks 0-0 draw with Ecuador after coming on as a second-half substitute. "The referee saw it and didnt even give him a warning. Not a yellow card, nothing," Mikel said. "The intention was there." Keshi was highly critical of American referee Mark Geigers handling of the game. "The ref is a human being, but a lot of mistakes were questionable," he said. "Giroud elbow, Pogba foot up ... he decides what happens on the field. Im not happy with the ref." Two chances were missed late in the half. Full-back Mathieu Debuchy smacked a shot wide and into the back of a steward, and Emenike saw his sharp drive from the edge of the area palmed away by Lloris. With Nigeria starting to dominate possession, Deschamps made a key change in the 62nd, taking Giroud off and bringing on Griezmann, freeing Benzema to play through the middle. Nigeria continued to push forward and centre half Laurent Kocielny cut out Musas dangerous cross from the right. But toward the end, it was all France as Griezmann boosted the attack. He almost made it 2-0 in the 85th that Enyeama tipped over brilliantly. Instead, it fell to Yobo to inadvertently add Frances second goal. ___ Lineups: France: Hugo Lloris; Mathieu Debuchy, Raphael Varane, Laurent Koscielny, Patrice Evra; Paul Pogba, Yohan Cabaye, Blaise Matuidi; Mathieu Valbuena (Moussa Sissoko, 94th), Olivier Giroud (Antoine Griezmann, 62nd), Karim Benzema. Nigeria: Vincent Enyeama; Efe Ambrose, Kenneth Omeruo, Joseph Yobo, Juwon Oshaniwa; Ogenyi Onazi (Ruben Gabriel, 59th), John Obi Mikel; Ahmed Musa, Peter Odemwingie, Victor Moses (Uche Nwofor, 89th); Emmanuel Emenike. Jean Beliveau Canadiens Jersey . scored 18 of his career- high 28 points in the first half, as fifth-ranked Ohio State dominated No. Paul Byron Canadiens Jersey . Speaking on TSN Radio 1050s TSN Drive with Dave Naylor on Monday, Colangelo said he had no intention of tanking the shortened 2011-12 season, but definitely wanted a high pick in the draft. "I wish that word wasnt used for headline reasons," said Colangelo, "but the story behind it was: how can we fix the system? How can we tweak the system to make it less likely that teams are rewarded for losing records? 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Nowitzki scored 28 points, Harris had a season-high 14 for the second straight game and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Detroit Pistons 116-106 Sunday night.Arizona could take the first loss of the season. Since no team had gone undefeated in more than three decades, it felt almost inevitable. Falling out of the top spot in the poll wasnt bad, either; the goal is to be No. 1 at the end of the season, not the middle. Losing Brandon Ashley, thats going to be a little tougher for the second-ranked Wildcats to take, a development that will force them to shuffle things around and potentially put a dent in their national championship aspirations. "Its a huge loss for us not to have Brandon for the rest of the season," Arizona centre Kaleb Tarczewski said. "But we still feel that even without him, we still have a great team." With Ashley, Arizona hummed along to the best start in program history, beating teams like Duke, Michigan, UCLA and San Diego State while winning its first 21 games. The Wildcats fortunes took a bad turn Saturday night in Berkeley, when they lost the game 60-58 on Justin Cobbs last-second shot and lost Ashley to an awkward landing while going up for a rebound in the first half. Ashley injured his right foot on the play and faces the possibility of surgery. Arizona (21-1, 8-1 Pac-12) now faces playing the rest of the season without one of its best, most versatile players. "No one expected us to do as well as we have this year; we kind of just let our play do the talking," Arizona point guard T.J. McConnell said. "People can write what they want and say that were not a national championship team, but were going to work hard every day and they cant take that away from us." A 6-foot-8 sophomore, Ashley was a difficult matchup for opposing teams on offence, an athletic player who could score in the post, driving to the basket and, after spending countless hours working on his shot during the summer, from the 3-point line. Ashley is Arizonas third-leading scorer at 11.5 points and in rebounding at 5.8 per game. He shot 47 per cent from the floor, including 36 per cent from the arc and often gave opposing teams fits with his ability to keep offensive rebounds alive with his long arms. Ashley also is one of the Wildcats most versatile defensive players, a long, mobile defender who has the reach to block shots inside and out, the agility to keep smaller players in ffront of him.dddddddddddd. "Are we going to miss Brandon Ashley? No doubt about it," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "But we still can be an excellent team." The loss of Ashley will force some shuffling for the Wildcats. Defensively, Arizona should be OK without him. Freshman Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, whos expected to slide into Ashleys starting spot, is an active and willing defender. At 6-7, hes just an inch shorter and may be better at defending perimeter players than Ashley, playing that end of the floor more like an upperclassman than a first-year player. Replacing Ashleys offence may be a little tougher. Hollis-Jefferson isnt quite as polished as Ashley on offence and doesnt have the same range, hitting 1 of his 6 attempts from 3-point range this season while scoring most of his points on drives and putbacks. With Hollis-Jefferson in the starting lineup, 3-point specialist Gabe York moves into the sixth man role and the rest of the roster moves up a spot. Miller has kept a fairly tight rotation this season, so now players who hadnt seen many minutes outside of mop-up duty will be counted on more. Guard Jordin Mayes was a regular contributor the past two seasons, but has seen his minutes decrease this season. Matt Korcheck, who redshirted last season, is an active player with a solid build at 6-10, 230 pounds, though he has played in just 10 games this season. Freshman Elliot Pitts, whos appeared in eight games, will likely see more minutes as well. Miller said forward Zach Peters, a transfer from Kansas whos battled concussion issues, isnt ready for consistent minutes yet. Playing time among the players vying for minutes will likely be based on circumstance, depending on how well theyre playing, the opponent and what the Wildcats need during specific points in games. "If we did nothing different other than just give the players who have played, minus Brandon, more of an opportunity, thats part of our solution," Miller said. "With that in mind, we know foul trouble and fatigue can certainly weigh against you, but we dont have to do this for 30 games, just nine regular-season games and then were in the post-season." Arizonas stretch run without Ashley starts Thursday night at home against Oregon. ' ' '