Nigeria's Uche Ikechukwu (left) is tackled by Jamaica's Tyrone Mears during their international friendly match at the New Den, London, yesterday. The game ended in a 0-0 draw. - file

LONDON, England

It's never always easy to bring your 'A' game to the table for a friendly. And especially against a team that has much to prove. That, according to head coach John Barnes, was one of the most pleasing aspects of the Reggae Boyz's show against Nigeria's Super Eagles, in their friendly international at The Den, Millwall Football Club's football stadium, in London yesterday.

"Overall I can't fault the players' effort or commitment, and the most pleasing thing for me is the fact that it's a friendly match, it is Nigeria's last match before the World Cup qualifiers and what people have always said, not only about Jamaica but developing countries, is when there's nothing on the match what sort of spirit and desire will they show," Barnes explained to the media in a post-match interview after the 0-0 result last night.

"The Jamaica players showed a lot of heart, a lot of spirit and I was pleased with the attitude of the players in a game, which was seen as a friendly match."

The Boyz, missing regular first-team players Donovan Ricketts, Ian Goodison, Ricardo Fuller and captain Ricardo Gardner, gave as much as they took in a contest that was exciting, with both teams creating their fair share of chances.

Back-to-back face-offs

Luton Shelton used his pace to create back-to-back face-offs against the opposing goalkeeper, Ejide Austine, while Marlon King, Demar Phillips and Wolry Wolfe all had decent chances to put a Jamaican name on the scoresheet, one blot the coach put against his team.

"The performance from the Jamaica team is what I expected. It's what they've shown me since I've been there (officially in November last year) against a very good Nigeria side, who played with a lot of composure, a lot of skill and a lot of cohesion.

"In the first half Nigeria gave us the run around a bit," noted Barnes. "They kept possession really well without creating that many chances."

He added: "In the second half I thought we controlled the ball better, we moved the ball better and to be fair, I'm disappointed we didn't win the match because of the chances that we had. We had three or four clear-cut chances. But as much as we had those chances, the goalkeeper is a big part of the game and he did well in the one-on-one situations."

Another high point for Barnes was represented by the team's adaptability, a situation forced upon the game when referee Mike Ryan expelled a player from either team in the 42nd minute - Jamaican midfielder Jermaine Johnson and Nigerian full back Taiye Taiwo.

It came from a seemingly harmless off-the-ball situation. The ball went out of play, Johnson picked it up, Nigeria's Taiwo punched the Jamaican, who responded with a push. Referee Mike Dean summoned his linesman and sent off both players.

"I've always been trying to get Jermaine in the team. He was doing well so I was very disappointed to lose him," Barnes admitted.

Eight matches

Pointing to the adjustments, he explained: "In terms of team, when we had to change our shape because we had to go to a flat back four and we've played a back three, not only since I've been in charge in eight matches but years before that, and being able to adapt to a different scenario made me think how far they've come."

With Nwankwo Kanu pulling the strings when he dropped back from forward to midfield, Nigeria, whose rankings slipped more than six places to 23th yesterday, played their best and also created a couple of excellent finishes on goal in the second half, only to be denied by Jamaica's custodian, Tyrone Sawyers.

"The set pieces of Nigeria were very good, that's where they looked most dangerous. I think in open play they kept the ball very well, they didn't work on our goalkeeper but with crosses, corners and free kicks, they were excellent on set pieces and they're big and strong and very aggressive," said Barnes, coach of 64th-ranked Jamaica. "So our goalkeeper, when he was called upon, was very good."

He also had praise for their defensive unit.

"One thing the Jamaican public has to come to grips with is we've all these flair players and we like skilful players who do lots of tricks. Rodolph Austin and Jason Morrison are very hard-working and do lots of unseen work. They're the reason why the Luton Sheltons and Jermaine Johnsons can do what they do because they really cover a lot of ground," he pointed out. "If you check the back four they do a lot of work, so the balance is what's importance to me, our tactical discipline is what pleased me."