Emma Jemegah, Asaba
Super Eagles captain, John Mikel Obi on Saturday emerged the Man of the Match in Nigeria’s 0-0 draw with Zimbabwe in an international friendly match played at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba.
Mikel was named the Man of the Match for his impressive display in the midfield and showed Nigerians that he is set to lead the Super Eagles to Egypt for the AFCON 2019 glory.
Nigeria and Zimbabwe are preparing for the Africa Cup of Nations – could not find the back of the net as it rained throughout in the Stephen Keshi Stadium.
Nigeria dominated proceedings in the opening 45 minutes but lacked the scoring edge as Samuel Chuekwueze and Samuel Kalu both came close to break the deadlock.
Chukwueze was a constant threat to the Zimbabwean defence and had his clear shot at goal in the 16th minute.
The Villarreal winger tested goalkeeper Edmore Sibanda with his curled shot which was the Super Eagles’ only shot on target in the first half.
A minute later, Alex Iwobi had another attempt to put Nigeria ahead but his effort was blocked by the Warriors for a corner kick.
While Gernot Rohr’s side push for a goal, Zimbabwe, on their part, resorted to counter-attack and their clear chance came in the 22nd minute, only for Nyasha Mushekwi to blast his shot over the bar.
Moments later, the game was slightly delayed for Chukwueze to clean his bleeding face.
Both teams made changes before the restart of the game with Zimbabwe introducing five players while Rohr sent William Troost-Ekong, Ahmed Musa and Chidozie Awaziem in to replace Kenneth Omeruo, Samuel Kalu and Ola Aina respectively.
The introductions made no difference on the score sheet even though the Super Eagles started the second 45 minutes as the better side.