Draw exposes Nigeria

Nigeria line up before the game against Japan

Nigeria 2-2 Japan
Southampton, England

---

This was not Nigeria's strongest team. Nwankwo Kanu was missing and Taribo West never made the trip either.

But this is still the core of the squad that will go to the Nations Cup in Mali, and that should cause some concern for coach Amodu Shaibu and his coaching staff.

The Japanese were a far better side than the one that lost to Senegal 2-0 on Thursday night, but Nigeria will have to be far more convincing than this if they want to launch a serious challenge in Mali.

The Super Eagles went behind twice and could easily have lost the game. They had the better of the chances but failed to make good use of them.

Protests

The first goal came midway through the first half from an inoccuous looking free-kick.

The ball was swung in, and Japanese striker Yanagisawa jumped highest to tuck the ball into the corner of the net.

There was a hint of handball, but the referee ignored the Nigerian protests.

Aghahowa came off the bench to save the day

The Nigerians responded immediately through a powerful run down the left from Eric Ejiofor, whose cross was firm.

Japanese defender Matsuda was unsighted, the ball hit his shins and was deflected past his hapless goalkeeper.

Individuals

Nigeria pressed well at times and knocked the ball around nicely, but it was still more a performance of individuals rather than of a team.

Jay Jay Okocha looked good on the ball, Finidi George lurked dangerously just behind the front two and was unluckly not to score from a cracking volley.

The end-to-end stuff continued in the second half, with Japan looking the stronger in the opening exchanges.

Their extra effort paid off when a free-kick on the left was whipped into the box. Suzuki was allowed to get in front of the Nigerian defence, got to the ball first, and hit an awkward shot which bounced over Shorunmu.

Super-sub

Nigeria were a little rattled and although they got into some good scoring opportunities, they failed to take advantage.

It was then left to super-sub Aghahowa to save the day for the African side. He was quickly onto the ball after a mistake by Matsuda on the edge of Japan's box.

He drove forward some ten yards and then finished expertly into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

Ejiofor blotted his copy book by getting a second yellow card and left the pitch in the closing minutes. His absence left Nigeria looking more vulnerable.

A draw was perhaps a fair result. The atrocious weather didn't help things - driving wind and rain left the pitch water-logged in places.

But Nigeria know they will have to be more convincing than this by the time the Nations Cup comes around in January.