A goalless draw against Rwanda was definitely not what the title-chasing Super Eagles were looking for in their opening match of the African Nations Championship on Monday night.
But it is what Salisu Yusuf's boys got from their 90 minutes in Morocco, despite three shots on goal hitting the woodwork and one horrendous open-goal miss.
Scoring issues remain
Monday night's CHAN draw was not for lack of opportunity. Between Emeka Ogbugh, Sunday Faleye, Rabiu Ali, and Anthony Okpotu, they not only created a plethora of chances, but hit the woodwork three times and forced the goalkeeper into saves.
This might be considered unlucky. But it continues a familiar pattern that they showed at the WAFU Cup. There, they opened with two 0-0 draws, and were on the brink of elimination before claiming a 2-0 win over Ghana. They then fell back into familiar bad habits in the knockout stages, eking out a 1-0 win over Benin Republic on the semifinal before falling 4-1 to Ghana in the final.
While they did do well to carve out the chances against Rwanda on Monday, the caveat is that the Amavubi were barely interested in adventure, and mostly stayed home until late in the second half.
But it was not so much the spurned opportunities that frustrated as the manner of some of the fluffing. Faleye hit one straight at the goalkeeper when a chipped finish would have done the job, and Ali hastily hooked over from close range with a wide open goal on front of him.
The good news is that they created the chances. The bad news is that they did not look like they could score their way out of a wet paper bag.
No test for Ezenwa
Part of the proposed takeouts for the home-based Super Eagles' technical staff at this tournament is to keep Ikechukwu Ezenwa's hand in.
Head coach Gernot Rohr and his staff will be hoping to see that test in subsequent games. Rwanda barely gave the Enyimba goalkeeper anything to do.
This would have been disappointing for Rohr, who wants to see his now-installed first choice goalkeeper get a useful run of international games under his belt ahead of some really tough tests in the summer.
No threats to the A-squad
Ahead of the tournament, Rohr said he wanted to keep an eye out for players who could make a credible late challenge for places in the first XI. On the basis of Monday night's performance, none of those players need worry.
Admittedly it was just one game, but nobody really stood out in what was a passable performance against middling opposition. Stephen Eze did offer unyielding ruggedness at central defence, which he combined with a potent attacking threat at setpieces upfront, but that was about it.
If any of these lads really want to fight for a place in the final 23 to Russia, they did a good job of disguising it. They have two more games to work their magic.