Nigeria were on Wednesday held to a 0-0 draw by Niger
in a friendly match to prepare both sides for 2013 Nations Cup
qualifiers in September.
The entertaining encounter played at the
50,000-capacity Stade General Seyni Kountche in Niamey, which was
half-filled, saw both sides give their best with Nigeria having the edge
in a match that saw three yellow cards to the visitors and one to the
hosts.
The Nigerian culprits were Solomon Kwambe, Solomon
Jabason and Sani Sanusi while Niger hitman Kalilou Dawouda was also
booked for rough play.
Niger started the better side when after only five
minutes Boubacar Talatou tried to chip past goalkeeper and skipper
Chigozie Agbim.
The Warri Wolves man slipped, picked himself up and
went for the save, which resulted in him hitting his shoulder against
the woodwork.
The Nigerian bench looked worried, but after the
medics attended to him, he was back to his feet but needed additional
attention after the game.
Isoufou Boubacar, Sidibe Modibo and Mohammed
Soumaila, also had their tries at the Nigerian goal in the first
quarter, but Azubuike Eguweke, Papa Idris and Juwon Oshaniwa held
strong.
Egwueke gave his bench another scare in the 20th
minute when he was stretchered off after hitting the ground while
attempting a clearance, but he was again back after treatment.
From then on it was Nigeria all the way with Uche
Kalu’s freee kick blocked by Nigerien defenders in the 21st minute for
one of the nine corner kicks played by the Eagles.
Kalu had other chances in the 27th and 35th minutes
but they were all wasted, before Ejike Uzoenyi’s blistering run from the
right fell to Mba, who also blasted wide.
In the second half, stand-in coach for Niger,
Frederic Acosta, made six changes in the first 20 minutes of the half
but nothing changed as Nigeria continued to dictate the pace of the game
but not before Agbim was again called to duty by dangerman Dawouda,
whose chip was going into the net before the big Nigerian palmed clear
for a corner.
Keshi also made changes bringing in Umar Zango for a
tired Idris, Kwambe was pulled out for Ugonna, Philip Asuquo for Sunday
Mba, Sibi Gwar for Ejike Uzoenyi and Sani Sanusi for Uche Kalu.
As usual, Asuquo seized the midfield from the hosts
but chances that fell to Sani, Reuben and Gwar were wasted as the
referee blew the final whistle after five minutes of added time for the
home side to heave a sigh of relief.
Keshi said after the match that it was a game his
wards would have won but nevertheless he was impressed with the attitude
of the players who kept their concentration throughout the encounter.
“It’s a good warm-up for the Liberia game and we
picked a good result in the encounter because we did not play with the
compliments of our Europe-based stars,” Keshi said.
Niger, on the other hand, featured as many as eight foreign-based professionals.
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