Nigeria Vs. Iran Results And Highlights: The First Boring Game Of The Tournament Yields A Goalless Draw [VIDEO]

Nigeria and Iran faced off today in their first 2014 World Cup match in the Arena da Baixada in Curitiba. Both sides were looking for all three points as the other two teams in the group, Argentina and Bosnia-Herzegovina, are projected to advance. However, neither team found the back of the net in the first draw of the tournament, and a game which will be quickly forgotten.

The first chance of the match came to Victor Moses who cut inside in the third minute and took a shot from outside the box but it was handled easily by Iranian keeper Alireza Haghighi. The Nigerian early pressure paid off in the form of a fantastic chance on 9 minutes when a great delivery on the right flank by Emmanuel Eminike was cleared by the Iranian defense and a rebounded shot by Ogenyi Onazi trickled just wide. The Nigerians held the majority of possession but were forced to make a substitution in the 29th minute when Joseph Yobo, the Nigerian player with the most caps all-time, entered the game for Godfrey Oboabona who had picked up a knock earlier in the half.

The best chance of the first half came on 34 minutes when an Iranian corner was met well by Reza Ghoochannejhad, nicknamed 'Gucci', but a brilliant save by Vincent Enyeam denied the Iranians the early lead. The first 45 minutes was characterized by a lack of quality chances and the players walked off the pitch to jeers from the crowd.

The second half started with decent Iranian possession and Nigerian coach Steven Keshi responded by replacing Victor Moses with Shola Ameobi. However, the Nigerian attack looked in disarray and the African side was unable to create chances in front of goal. The game was conducted mostly in the midfield and neither team showed any attacking threat throughout the match.

The best Iranian chance of the second half came to Ashkan Dejagah who had a free header from six yards out, but he miss-hit his effort which popped up straight in the air. The Nigerians did little to attack the opposition goal, but on 90 minutes the Iranian defense was called into action twice in two minutes, first to clear a good cross for a corner and then to head the ball away from goal in additional time. All in all, a quit match for both sides who will certainly struggle to qualify from this group. Nigeria will play Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran will face Argentina in their next matches on June 21.