Gone are the days when the mere evocation of the name of Nigeria’s national football team sent chills down the spines of potential adversaries.

After a 0-1 loss to Côte d’Ivoire earlier this week, the Super Eagles were held at bay by Mali on Friday night, with the game ending in the tournament’s first scoreless draw.

Not for want of trying.

Nigeria’s coach, Berti Vogts, a former German soccer great, fielded all of the team’s forwards   (Odemwinge, Nsofor, Ayegbeni, Utaka, Makinwa and Uche), hoping for a breakthrough.

At one point they thought they had it with a goal by Yakubu Aiyegbeni, but the referee ruled Nigeria offside.

To qualify for the next round, Nigeria have to defeat Benin by a significant margin in goals and hope for Mali to lose against Côte d’Ivoire. Should Mali pull off a draw against the Ivoirians, all Nigeria’s chances of advancing are lost.

Whether this will happen is anybody’s guess.

Mali’s Eagles Hold on to their Reputation

Mali has never failed to advance to the semifinals of the African Cup of Nations, and their success rate is likely to remain undisturbed this time around.

Its trio of midfielders, Diarra, Keïta and Sissoko, stood their ground against Nigeria, even to the point of dominating the game in part of the second half.

Both teams shared a common bottom line: not to concede a win, which would have opened the door to early elimination. Mali tried to impose their vibrant technique on Nigeria by realigning their key players.

By standing up to Nigeria’s fast-paced, highly technical rhythm, coach Jean François Jodar’s men hope to send a clear message to all big shots in the tournament: don’t count us out.

The draw with which the game ended gives Mali a slight advantage, given that Nigeria must win and hope for a somewhat of a miracle to progress further.