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| Photo by Mike Hewitt |
Iran and Nigeria kicked off their Brasil 2014 campaigns today in Curitiba. This would be one of three matches in the group stage featuring an African side against an Asian side. Nigeria were living up to their label as favorites in the early going. Emmanuel Emenike dispossessed Jalal Hosseini in the right corner of Team Melli's defense. He pushed a ball across that face of goal, but a desperate sliding block by Mehrdad Pooladi maintained the early parity on the scoreboard. Ahmed Musa caught Iran goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi cheating to the far post on his free kick, so he snuck a lopping hit toward the near post, but Haghighi was able to scramble back into position to knock the ball off frame. It took more than a half hour, but Iran finally produced a dangerous attack. Off a corner kick, Reza Ghoochannejhad caught a header flush, but a quick reaction dive by Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama prevented the score. No Iranian was able to pounce on the rebound. In spite of dominating possession, Nigeria found themselves in a scoreless draw heading back to the locker room.
Try as they might, Nigeria could not quite manufacture the probing pass nor the class finish they needed in the second period to break down the Iranians. Iran were content to stay back and rarely ventured forward. In the final minute of regulation, Ahmed Musa hit a cross destined for Shola Ameobi at the back post, but Pooladi was there to head the ball out for a corner kick. On the resulting corner kick, Ameobi powered a strong header, but Pooladi was there again to clear the ball off the line. The final whistle blew on the first draw of the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals. The teams tie 0-0.
Argentina 3 pts +1
Iran 1 pts 0
Nigeria 1 pts 0
Bosnia 0 pts -1
Match Reports:
http://soccer.si.com/planet-futbol/2014/06/16/nigeria-iran-world-cup-commentary-recap-group-f
Highlights:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/videos/highlights/match=300186505/index.html
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