Super Eagles Play Out 0-0 Draw With Mexico

Despite each team having
scoring chances throughout,
Mexico and Nigeria played to a
0-0 draw in front of a record
crowd of 68,220 at the Georgia
Dome in Atlanta.

The goalkeepers
kept their
respective teams
alive, with El Tri's
Guillermo Ochoa making six
saves and the Super Eagles'
keeper combination of Vincent
Enyeama and Austin Ejide
matching him at the opposite
end of the pitch with five
between them
In a World Cup preparation
match for both teams, Mexico
and Nigeria named strong sides
that included European-based
players.
El Tri's starting lineup was
highlighted by Manchester
United's Javier 'Chicharito'
Hernandez and Bayer
Leverkusen's Andres Guardado.

The Super Eagles featured
Chelsea's John Mikel Obi,
Liverpool's Victor Moses and
CSKA Moscow's Ahmed Musa.
Playing in front of a pro-Mexico
crowd in the United States,
Nigeria looked like it was going
to have a field day against El Tri
shortly after the opening kick.

In the 11th minute, Emmanuel
Emenike beat Rafa Marquez to
the right and forced Ochoa to
make an outstanding save to
prevent the first goal of the
match. Seconds later, off a
rebound from a corner kick,
Ochoa was once again put into
action, diving to his left to stop a
bullet from Ogenyi Onazi outside
the box.

With the pressure already on
Ochoa from the start, things
started to get worse for the
goalkeeper after he took a knee
to the head during a collision
with Ahmed Musa. He was down
on the pitch for a couple
minutes but remained in the
game.

It took Mexico 22 minutes to get
its first shot off when Hector
Herrera dribbled to the top of
the box and fired over the
crossbar with his left foot. El
Tri's first real scoring
opportunity came in the 26th
minute as Rafa Marquez nearly
knocked in a header only for
keeper Vincent Enyeama to get
his left hand on the ball. Thanks
to outstanding play from Mexico
goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa and
Nigeria shot-stoppers Vincent
Enyeama and Austin Ejide, the
friendly ended in a draw.
From that point on, Mexico
began to gain more control
offensively and showed more
intensity against the speedy
Nigerians. The teams ended the
first half with six shots apiece.

Mexico entered the second half
without Chicharito, who picked
up a knee injury in the opening
45 minutes. But that didn't keep
the Mexicans from threatening
the visitors at the beginning of
the half, with Marquez nearly
knocking in a free kick from just
outside the six-yard box.

In a back-and-forth match,
Nigeria countered in the 55th
minute when Ahmed Musa beat
the back line and made Ochoa
make another big save to keep
the match scoreless. On the
other end, Mexico's second-half
substitute Alan Pulido tested
substitute keeper Ejide with a
stinging shot only to be matched
by a diving save.
Pulido, who scored a hat trick in
his Mexico debut against South
Korea earlier this year, nearly put
in a rebound in the 66th minute,
but Ejide once again came out
on top.

Both teams made several
substitutions in the closing
minutes, taking out their big
guns for more inexperienced
players. But the results were the
same as the two sides continued
to have chances only to fall short
of finding the net.