Nigeria’s Super Eagles were on Wednesday held to a goalless draw by the Menas of Niger Republic in an international friendly that both sides used as part of preparations for the upcoming 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 culprits were Solomon Kwambe, Solomon Jabason and Sanni Sanusi. While Niger hitman Kalilou Dawodu was also booked for rough play.

Niger started the better side when after only five minutes Boubacar Talatou tried to chip the ball 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 againt the woodwork. The Nigerian bench looked worried but after the medics attended to him he was back to his feet but nneded additional attention after the game. Isoufou Boubacar, Sidibe Modibo and Mohammed Soumaila, also had their tries at the Nigerian goal area in the first quarter but Azubuike Eguweke, Papa Idis and Juwon Oshaniwa held on 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.

Keshi said after the match that it was a game his wards would have won but nevetheless he was impressed by the attitude of the players who kept their concentration to the optimum throughout the encounter. “Its a good warm up for the Liberia game and we should pick a good result in the encounter, because we did not play with the compliments of our Europe based stars”. Niger on the other hand featured up to eight foreign based professional players in the encounter.