Super Eagles play barren draw with Indomitable Lions

Nigeria’s Super Eagles played out a goalless draw against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon at the Stadion Wiener Neustadt in Vienna, Austria, to bring to an end their camping in Austria.

Having lost the first of the two games against their rivals, Nigeria’s head coach Gernot Rohr named a similar starting 11 to the one that lost that game, but changed the formation. There was a first Super Eagles start for Galatasaray defender Valentine Ozornwafor who came in for the injured William Troost-Ekong, and also Captain Ahmed Musa, who was brought in for Oghenekaro Etebo as Coach Rohr opted for an attacking 4-1-4-1 formation. The Super Eagles struggled for fluency against a very physical Cameroon side and could have been two goals down by halftime if not for a goal line clearance from Alex Iwobi and a correct offside decision given against to Cameroonians. In the second half, the Super Eagles put up a better showing but failed to find the net, with Terem Moffi and Kelechi Iheanacho both guilty of missing good chances in the game as the Eagles struggled to break down a stubborn Cameroon defence in the game which ended 0-0.

With this draw, Nigeria have now won only five international friendly matches since the appointment of Gernot Rohr in 2016. The Super Eagles have also failed to score in both their matches in June against Cameroon, losing one and drawing the other. Gernot Rohr has drawn criticism from various quarters in Nigerian football for his inability to bring out the best from a very talented crop of players, and the results from the Austria camp does little to correct this notion. Nigeria will face Mexico in their next international match in July.