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It had to end sometime. The steady stream of goals and entertainment in Brazil was going to run dry at some point, and no-one will be particularly surprised that it happened in Curitiba�s Arena da Baixada between these two nations on Monday night. The first draw of the World Cup � and a goalless one at that � leaves Bosnia and Herzegovina even more likely to qualify from Group F behind favourites Argentina if they can avoid defeat to Nigeria in Cuiaba on Saturday. The reigning African champions knew that this was arguably their best chance of a first World Cup win in eight attempts going back to 1998 when Iran also celebrated their solitary victory over the USA, but neither did enough in a disappointing encounter. Iran had arrived at the World Cup with more clean sheets than any other qualifier, although it has to be pointed out that their opponents on the road to Brazil included Maldives, Qatar and Lebanon. Nigeria, meanwhile, had scored fewer goals than everyone else so it hardly had the hallmarks of a classic. Stephen Keshi�s side certainly started with an attacking intent and had the ball in the net in the seventh minute through the lively Ahmed Musa, but Ecuadorian referee Carlos Vera ruled it out for a foul on goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi by Chelsea midfielder Jon Obi Mikel. The CSKA Moscow player had another chance moments later when Emmanuel Emenike, Nigeria�s top scorer in qualifying, muscled Jalal Hosseini off the ball and crossed from the left but Musa was just beaten to the ball and Ogenyi Onazi�s follow-up effort rolled inches wide of the post. Iran became harder to break down as they settled into the game with Carlos Queiroz�s side well organised and happy to soak up the pressure, and Nigeria struggling to inject sufficient pace into their game. Musa troubled Haghighi with a clever freekick from 30 yards that had the keeper scrambling back across his goal to save just inside his right-hand post, but the best chance of the half fell to Iran 11 minutes before the break when they won their first corner of the game. Until then, lone striker Reza Ghoochannejad and Ashkan Dejagah were their liveliest players and it was no surprise that they were both involved. Dejagah swung over the corner from the right and Ghoochannejad, who had scored 10 goals in his previous 14 international appearances, met it with a firm header that brought a smart save from Vincent Enyeama who until then had been a virtual spectator. The second half produced little better. If anything, it got even worse as but the Africans ran out of ideas. Shola Ameobi replaced the desperately disappointing Victor Moses within seven minutes of the restart and the former Newcastle man went close with headers on two occasions, while Peter Odemwingie added fresh impetus when he came off the bench for Azeez, but the final whistle was greeted with a chorus of boos from their supporters. Not since the 1930 have we had to wait so long � 12 games � for a draw at the World Cup, and Iran will be delighted with a point even though they will struggle to record another shutout against Argentina in Belo Horizonte at the weekend. For Nigeria, however, the pressure is on.