Sunday, May 3, 1998 Published at 17:57 GMT 18:57 UK

Results and Reports

Germany 1 Nigeria 0 (April 22)

Roy Fairburn reports on the match [39'']

Measured football by Germany saw them wear down the Olympic champions, Nigeria, in a pre-World Cup friendly in Cologne.

Thomas Hassler, Germany

Thomas Hassler was the European champions' main link between attack and midfield and it was his cross which eventually led to Andreas Moeller scoring the only goal of the match after 58 minutes. Moeller's goal, a sparkling volley from the edge of the penalty area, was his 28th in 77 internationals.

In the opening 20 minutes Nigeria enjoyed much of the possession but rarely gave German keeper Oliver Kahn anything to worry about.

Germany's captain, Juergen Klinsmann, watched the entire game from the bench and was not called upon to warm up. He was overlooked in favour of Ulf Kirsten and Oliver Bierhoff, both of whom gave solid performances for the three-time world champions.

Even without the defensive lynchpins of Juergen Kohler and Thomas Helmer, the German defence easily held out against a Nigerian attack whose best opportunity came when a 49th-minute header from Victor Ikpeba was comfortably saved by Kahn.

Andreas Moeller scores the winner

Moeller said: "The victory was important for us after losing to Brazil. We wanted to win and we achieved that.

"We tried out a new positional line-up, with two attacking midfielders in behind the strikers and except for the first half-hour, when we were nervous, it worked out pretty well."

But German coach Berti Vogts was more evasive about whether he would use the formation in the World Cup.

"We will have to wait and see," he said. "You could tell when our opponents put pressure on us we were missing a defensive man here and there. Then again, neither Andreas Moeller nor Thomas Hassler are fully fit."

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