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Jamaica coach John Barnes can be proud of his side.
Scoring Summary Nigeria Jamaica
Match Information Stadium: The New Den
Attendance:
Match Time: 14:45 ET
Teams Nigeria Jamaica Substitutions· Club Rosters: Nigeria | Jamaica
Updated: February 11, 2009, 3:00 AM ET
John Barnes' Jamaica came close to recording an upset over Nigeria but were left to rue missed chances by Middlesbrough's Marlon King and former Sheffield United striker Luton Shelton at Millwall's New Den.
• Barnes disappointed by Johnson
Both sides finished with 10 men after Sheffield Wednesday winger Jermaine Johnson and Taye Taiwo were dismissed for brawling in front of a linesman.
The extra space led to an open second half but the poor quality of finishing from both sides ensured a stalemate.
Nigeria started the match with a full compliment of Premier League stars, with Joseph Yobo, Danny Shittu, Kanu and John Mikel Obi all in the first XI, and Jamaica also leant on a core of English-based players, with five in their starting line-up.
Both sides started in spritely fashion but it was Jamaica who threatened first, Shelton narrowly failing to convert a wicked right-wing cross from six yards.
Johnson also went close with a neat jink into the Nigerian box before a fine covering tackle by Yobo.
Johnson and Shelton were by some distance the most lively players in the opening stages, with Nigeria skipper Kanu failing to inspire his side from a deep-lying midfield role.
After 22 minutes on-loan Boro striker King missed a glorious chance open the scoring.
Johnson teed him up with a whipped cross from the right and with the goal gaping the experienced striker somehow fluffed his connection.
Demar Phillips had an equally presentable chance when the ball ricocheted to him six yards out but his shot was charged down.
With 28 minutes gone Osaze Odemwingie headed over as Nigeria finally created an attempt on goal.
With four minutes to go before half-time Taiwo and Johnson were dismissed by referee Mike Dean after an unsightly touchline scuffle.
Both sides came out with with revised formations - each manager shuffling their pack to restart with a three-man defence.
After 49 minutes Nigeria created their best chance yet, Ikechukwu Uche glancing Victor Obinna's free-kick just wide.
Shelton then contrived to miss two one-on-ones in as many minutes, each time showing good pace to breach the Nigeria line before being let down by a poor touch.
Another good delivery from Obinna, this time a cleverly disguised cutback, gave Uche a clear sight of goal after 53 minutes, but his drilled effort was beaten out by Shawn Sawyers.
Odemwingie, meanwhile, was struggling in front of goal, missing the target twice from good positions.
With both sides now exploiting the space afforded by the sendings off, Sawyers again reacted smartly to turn over Uche's powerful header following another fine ball from Obinna.
With 20 minutes left a hopeful Shittu attempted to break the deadlock with a spectacular 40-yard effort but it never looked likely to beat Sawyers.
Wolry Wolfe combined with fellow substitute Omar Daley as the Reggae Boyz went close after 75 minutes, but it summed up the match that after some neat interplay there was no end product.
Barnes disappointed by Johnson
Jamaica manager John Barnes admits he was disappointed Jermaine Johnson wasted his big chance with a sending off in the friendly against Nigeria at Millwall's New Den.
The Reggae Boyz and the Super Eagles played out a 0-0 draw in front of 5,000 fans in London and, although there were no goals, the match livened up after Sheffield Wednesday winger Johnson and Nigeria's Taye Taiwo were sent off for a touchline scuffle after 41 minutes.
The space afforded by those red cards saw a plethora of second-half chances, with on-loan Middlesbrough striker Marlon King and former Sheffield United striker Luton Shelton spurning the best of them.
But for Barnes it cut short a chance he has been waiting for for some time, to see Johnson in full flow.
''As Arsene Wenger always says, I didn't see the incident. I have empathy with him now. I always think 'you must have seen that' but from where I was sitting I really couldn't see,'' said Barnes.
''I don't know how serious it was but from what I was told an arm was swung and Jermaine just pushed him.
''It is disappointing though because I've been trying to get Jermaine in the team for some time.
''When we play 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 as we have been it's hard to get him in so he hasn't played for in the last few matches due to the shape of the team.
''But I always felt we should include him because of his quality. We know what he can do and we've seen him do it for Sheffield Wednesday, so it was very disappointing to lose him at that time.''
Reflecting on a match where his side had much the better chances against a team ranked in the top 20 in the world, Barnes said: ''The performance was just what I expected against a very good Nigeria side who play with a lot of composure, a lot of skill and a lot of cohesion.
''In the first half maybe they gave us the runaround a little bit, keeping possession without ever creating too much.
''But our heads didn't drop and I'm disappointed not to have won the match really because we had two or three really good chances and their goalkeeper did very well with some one-on-one situations.''
Nigeria coach Shaibu Amodu, who withdrew skipper Kanu after 45 minutes but left Chelsea midfielder John Mikel Obi in place for the full 90 minutes, was content with the result, if not the attendance.
He said: ''For me winning in a friendly is not the ultimate. It was important to look at certain players and we did that.
''We have not been able to come together in the last few windows and it was very important to get together as a team.
''What I wanted was a cohesive side and we needed to use this opportunity to enjoy ourselves and play together as a team. We achieved about 75% of that.
''I think, though, that most of the fans came from the Jamaican family and the Nigerian family. What is wrong, why can Millwall fans not fill the stadium?''