The Republic of Ireland were held to a 1-1 friendly draw with Nigeria at Craven Cottage.
Trapattoni's men forced to come from behind at Craven Cottage
The Republic of Ireland were held to a 1-1 friendly draw with Nigeria at Craven Cottage.
The match was a warm-up for Giovanni Trapattoni's side ahead of their forthcoming 2010 World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria on 6th June, with the Irish unbeaten in Group 8.
Michael Enemaro had opened the scoring for Nigeria on the half-hour mark, but Robbie Keane then levelled in the 38th minute.
Leon Best, one of five debuts handed out by Trapattoni, struck the post with a header just before Keane struck.
Trapattoni now has options after Kevin Foley, Sean St Ledger, Eddie Nolan, Liam Lawrence and Leon Best were among the debutants starting. Keiren Westwood then came on at the break for his first appearance.
The Italian wanted to look at these players ahead of the trip to Sofia, where a win will mean a huge stride towards at least a play-off to reach South Africa next year.
It was Foley, however, who was at fault for Enemaro's goal on 30 minutes.
Nigeria had hardly threatened seriously, apart from a speculative 40-yard free-kick from Sone Aluko that Shay Given tipped over, but they were ahead slightly against the run of play.
Partnership
Femi Olubayo, on the right, fizzed in a cross first time which Foley should have cleared but Enemaro was a fraction quicker, wrapped his foot around the ball and his finish beat Given.
That sprung Ireland into action, with three debutants combining shortly after.
Lawrence swung over a free-kick that St Ledger headed back into the danger area, with Best's finish striking the post.
Best's partnership with Keane was showing signs of promise, with the Coventry striker latching onto balls through and getting close before he struck the woodwork.
However, Best did not have a part to play in Keane's leveller. It was an eye-pleasing move, starting from Liam Miller's flick around a defender to Keith Andrews.
Measured
Andrews split the Nigeria defence with his pass, then Ireland's skipper and all-time top scorer did the rest, taking the ball past goalkeeper Austin Ejide and tucking away his finish.
Westwood came on for his debut at half-time, with Trapattoni replacing three of his senior players. Given, Keane and Damien Duff made way, with Aiden McGeady and Shane Long the other players introduced.
Long almost grabbed a goal seven minutes after the interval when Best chased down Ejide and forced the goalkeeper into a poor clearance. Long measured his lob but Ejide was back in time to palm away.
McGeady tried his luck from long range with 20 minutes remaining but his effort swerved wide, then Foley was replaced by Paul McShane.
The crowd started a Mexican wave with plenty of time remaining, a sign of the friendly heading towards a draw.
Nigeria themselves have a World Cup qualifier against Kenya coming up and players such as Obafemi Martins did not feature, while Joseph Yobo and Mikel John Obi were preparing for Saturday's FA Cup final between Everton and Chelsea, respectively .
Nsofor Obinna came off the bench for the Africans and went just wide with a drive.
