It should really be a waste of words written to try and dive deeper into the match between Nigeria and Iran. Somethings are better left untouched, but when such a fantastic World Cup with plenty of goals and attacking football in every match suddenly gives us a dud without a single goal and hardly a memorable chance, we have to dwell on it a little longer.
This is going and was going to be Iran. It might probably be even more severe when they meet the two better sides in this group: Bosnia and Argentina. Carlos Queiroz is a defensive minded coach, and was very happy to see his side, mostly based on players from the Iranian league, finish their first match without conceding a goal and with a point. We’re not going to see great football from this team and hardly any moments of dominant possession or great combinations on counter attacks.
Nigeria were the more frustrating team to watch. They aren’t the most talented African team in this tournament, but the lack of basic skills, which can only be attributed to sloppy play and maybe nerves getting to them, especially when it came to a simple touch or a final pass, was frustrating to see. Booing in the World Cup isn’t nice to hear, but at least from the Super Eagles there were much bigger expectations.
For Nigeria, more for than Iran, his was a problem result. Iran aren’t expected to qualify – they’re just trying to avoid humiliation while picking up a point or two. Nigeria, the 2013 African champions, needed the 3 points here as they venture into the tougher stretch of matches for them. Seeing them pick up the points from Argentina or even Bosnia seems much more difficult now after we saw what they have to offer.