International Football - Ireland held by Nigeria

Eurosport - Sat, 30 May 08:51:00 2009

Republic of Ireland handed debuts to two English-born players as they played out a 1-1 draw in a friendly with Nigeria at Craven Cottage.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 International friendlies Joseph Akpala of Nigeria and Keith Andrews of Ireland - 0

Ireland, who in all had five of their starting XI making their debuts, fell behind to Michael Enemaro's opener before Keane levelled before the interval at Craven Cottage.

It means Giovanni Trapattoni's men head to Bulgaria without breaking their momentum after going unbeaten in qualifiers so far.

Trapattoni also has options now after Kevin Foley, Sean St Ledger, Eddie Nolan, Liam Lawrence and Leon Best were among the debutants starting. Keiren Westwood then came on at the break for his first appearance.

The Italian wanted to look at these players ahead of the trip to Sofia, where a win will mean a huge stride towards at least a play-off to reach South Africa next year.

It was Foley, however, who was at fault for Enemaro's goal on the half-hour mark.

Nigeria had hardly threatened seriously, apart from a speculative 40-yard free-kick from Sone Aluko that Shay Given tipped over, but they were ahead slightly against the run of play.

Femi Olubayo, on the right, fizzed in a cross first time which Foley should have cleared but Enemaro was a fraction quicker, wrapped his foot around the ball and his finish fizzed past Given.

That sprung Ireland into action, with three debutants combining shortly after. Lawrence swung over a free-kick that St Ledger headed back into the danger area, with Best's finish striking the post.

Best's partnership with Keane was showing signs of promise, with the Coventry striker latching on to balls through and getting close before he struck the woodwork.

Best, however, did not have a part to play in Keane's leveller. It was an eye-pleasing move, starting from Liam Miller's flick around a defender to Keith Andrews.

Andrews split the Nigeria defence with his pass, then Ireland's skipper and all-time top scorer did the rest, taking the ball past goalkeeper Austin Ejide and tucking away his finish.

Westwood came on for his debut at half-time, with Trapattoni replacing three of his senior players. Given, Keane and Damien Duff made way, with Aiden McGeady and Shane Long the other players introduced.

Long almost grabbed a goal seven minutes after the interval when Best chased down Ejide and forced the goalkeeper into a poor clearance. Long measured his lob but Ejide was back in time to palm away.

McGeady tried his luck from long range with 20 minutes remaining but his effort swerved wide, then Foley was replaced by Paul McShane.

The crowd started a Mexican wave with plenty of time remaining, a sign of the friendly heading towards a draw.

Nigeria themselves have a World Cup qualifier against Kenya coming up and players such as Obafemi Martins did not feature, while Joseph Yobo and Mikel John Obi were preparing for the FA Cup final with their clubs.

Nsofor Obinna came off the bench for the Africans and went just wide with a drive.

PA Sport / Eurosport

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  1. come on Bulgaria.

    From WARREN, on Mon 1 Jun 8:42PM

  2. I'm a Nigerian but watching their friendly games­ are waste of precious time. They are always Ok with­ draw. You have African country to play with in your­ qualifiers but you opted for Europan friendly,what­ significant will it have in you preparation. Is a big­ shame to you planners. You disappoints me!

    From Hi, on Sat 30 May 8:13PM

  3. Honestly, Nigerian's don't impress me one bit.­ Watching Nigeria friendlys is mere waste of precious­ time. Their games are like street game. No committment­ and spicy.

    From Hi, on Sat 30 May 8:00PM

  4. Hello dear Irish fans! What's up? I come from­ Bulgaria and would like to ask you one question about­ the qualifying match on 6 of June in Sofia! Now we take­ 3rd place in the table with 5 points behind you! At­ first sight we have almost no chances to think about­ RSA! So my question to you is are you sure that we are­ lost? Because I don't think so! I'm sure that­ on the coming Saturday we are gonna win and I'll­ tell you why! The match in Ireland we were much better­ than you holding the ball much more and besides we were­ missing Berbatov, Bojinov and Petrov ! Now we have them­ and we are hosts! After taking this match we become 2­ points behind you with 1 match less! When we take this­ 1 match we'll have 1 point more than you and things­ change very quickly don't you think?! Then you­ become 3rd and we 2nd. So my advice is: "Don't­ give us up so quickly" because things are quite­ different than they look! Ultimately, we are unbeaten­ too, don't forget it! Have a nice day!

    From davidkovvaleri, on Sat 30 May 11:03AM

  5. Let's forget how it was reported, the truth is­ that, the nigerian senior team is no more what it used­ to be.

    By Chidi l

    From ffchidi, on Sat 30 May 10:26AM

  6. Ireland held by Nigeria? It seems the writer or­ reporter of this article need a proper Queens English­ lesson I guess. I can't believe a yahoo writer and­ reporter speaks street english too. lol

    From Michael, on Sat 30 May 10:21AM

  7. Why do we turn everything into a fight, my dear­ Nigerians? The story isn't targeting Nigerians or­ Africans, clearly. Nothing stops us from going to a­ Nigerian sports site.

    From Second S, on Sat 30 May 8:30AM

  8. I was at the match and this article is a­ misrepresentation of what happened. First Nigeria­ scored first then Ireland scored from offside. So who­ is holding who?
    Second Nigerians appeared to hold the­ ball more than the Irish but they had no striking­ power. but if that is the team Ireland intends to play­ they have serious problems

    From Flash, on Sat 30 May 8:24AM

  9. l think the headline should have read 'Nigeria held­ by Ireland', but because of the reporter's­ overzealousness in overrating Ireland than Nigeria. He­ has waved aside FIFA ranking. Well, it's not funny.­ From Biodun

    From bioduna, on Sat 30 May 8:22AM

  10. Samuel A you are an idiot. You're just looking for­ an ruck. Hope you get attacked by a lion.

    From terdo, on Sat 30 May 8:18AM

  11. Population?!! in that reference, Canada or China would­ humiliate Reb. of Ireland, accordind to You!!!

    From kaac, on Sat 30 May 8:17AM

  12. Apparently, Nigeria and Reb. of Ireland have met twice­ before, this making it the 3rd time
    . . . . . .which­ Nigeria has won it twice then, so I think that­ qualifies Nigeria has the better team.

    But I did think­ Nigeria would be beaten, by theira abysmal performances­ recently, but Nigeria 3rd team brought it together, and­ it's actually third team
    . . . . . . . these­ players would have never been selected, if­ Nigeria's first 11 didnt have cub matches to play­ this weekend, (all across Europe).

    Population?!! in­ that reference, Canada or China would humiliate Reb. of­ Ireland, accordind to You!!!

    From kaac, on Sat 30 May 8:16AM

  13. Taye Taiwo of Marseille, the best left back in the­ world in my opinion, (the best left back in ligue 1,­ (two seasons in a row) is in a ligue 1 title fight, and­ Joseph Yobo, first choice centre back is NEEDED in the­ FA Cup final this afternoon, along with John Obi Mikel­ for Chelsea.

    I love Robbie Keane, but truth be told,­ that goal was the easiest of goals. Did I mention, that­ it was the 3rd place goal keeper for Nigeria?!!!

    . . .­ . . . . and certain free kicks, I fancied Taye Taiwo­ puttin them away, because those are His specialty, but­ He is away on club duty.

    From kaac, on Sat 30 May 8:07AM

  14. Ireland didn't have their first team playing an­ way, and Craven Cottage is not Irelands home ground,­ the new Landsdown Road stadium when it is finished will­ be, but for the time being Croke Park in Dublin is the­ home venue. You can never go by friendlies any way. All­ the players know that it is only a warm up sort of game­ for them and to try their paces. I am not saying that­ the Nigeria team is not a worthy team, they are. they­ do have some fine players playing for them. But I do­ think that it is about time that Ireland started to put­ some of their old timers out to grass and give more of­ the youngsters a better chance of seeing how they all­ knit together, Oh I know you do need a couple of more­ experience men in the side, and I also know that­ Ireland don't have the pick of football tallent­ going around, but they do their best with what they­ have. They do have quite a few decent young players now­ coming along, and it all takes time to get them use to­ different styles of football, so give them a chance to­ learn. Lets see how they cope with Bulgaria and we will­ know more then.

    From Lizzy Ingram, on Sat 30 May 8:07AM

  15. well, I know the better side, if Nigeria had their­ first starters like Rep. of Ireland did, Nigeria would­ have had this,

    From kaac, on Sat 30 May 7:58AM

  16. Nigeria had no need for that friendly game.The­ politicians just went to squander money ----I mean the­ NFF officials. They should play friendlies with African­ countris and stop wasting our money.After playing a­ draw,what next? African foothball is different from­ thnat of Europe and moreover,there are games at hand­ with african countris.So"Nigeria held by­ Ireland"or the other way round are nonsense.You­ guys should keep quiete.
    Don.

    From IBEKWED, on Sat 30 May 7:50AM

  17. Who cares what way its written, Ireland held by Nigeria­ --- Nigeria held by Ireland? Seriously grow up, it­ doesnt make any difference. Nobody can ever tell who­ the better over all team is in a friendly anyway,­ especially with so many subs bein used and changes bein­ made. Wait till they meet in a competitive game some­ day and that will tell the true story.

    From JK, on Sat 30 May 7:30AM

  18. Objectivity and balancing is missing in this report,­ how on earth do u say NIGERIA held ireland when it was­ NIGERIA that scored 1st and the old school keane sweat­ to equalise, we need to no when innequality and rascism­ would part way with football. This is a rubbish and­ stupid reporting.

    From beckleyatlarge, on Sat 30 May 7:19AM

  19. And someone is quoting the national population.­ Football team is not a reflection of how many babies a­ country produces per month.

    From Majoser, on Sat 30 May 5:22AM

  20. If you guys don like how its written, hold your balls.­ Should we have said nigeria scores early to @#$% a draw­ at Fulham home ground?

    From Majoser, on Sat 30 May 5:19AM
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