Nigeria have placed one foot in the World Cup Round of 16 courtesy of a slender 1-0 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina in Cuiaba.
The Super Eagles provided plenty of attacking threat throughout the 90 minutes and were unlucky not to have scored more goals but Bosnia were also dangerous and probably deserved a draw in the end.
Nigeria opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark when Emmanuel Emenike made a strong run down the right, brushed off a challenge from Emir Spahic, and teed up Peter Odemwingie who slotted past Stoke City teammate Asmir Begovic.
Bosnia players argued that referee Peter O'Leary allowed play to go on when he should have penalised Emenike but the New Zealand official allowed the goal to stand.
Begovic and his goalkeeping counterpart Vincent Enyeama were both extremely busy throughout the contest and came up with more 16 saves between them as the attacks of both sides continued to pepper the goalmouth.
It was hard to believe that only one goal was scored in the 90 minutes, such was the regularity of forward forays, but the ball simply did not find its way into the back of the net.
Edin Dzeko thought he had scored in the 22nd minute but the goal was disallowed for offside which seemed to be a harsh decision as he looked clearly on.
Nigeria were looking menacing down the right and were creating havoc for the Bosnian defence who for the most part had stood up to the pressure with Emenike and Ahmed Musa constant threats.
Manchester City's Dzeko had a few opportunities but his radar appeared to be off especially when popping the ball well over the net from a position where he should have scored late in the first half.
In the second half, Nigeria had the majority of the attacking play as they looked to kill off the contest but Begovic was able to thwart them, especially when pulling off a top save to deny Emenike from close range after the hour-mark.
The Fenerbahce striker then tested Begovic from a tight angle in the 65th minute as the Bosnian continued to defy the attack-minded Nigerians.
Bosnia started searching hard for an equaliser as the minutes ticked over but the determined Nigerian defence were up for the battle and were able to make life increasingly hard for the Dragons forwards.
Dzeko couldn't believe he had placed his late header straight into the hands of a grateful Enyeama before the Lille gloveman pulled off a wonder save to divert the ball onto the upright after Dzeko turned and fired on goal in the dying moments.
It was a brave win from Stephen Keshi's side who remain second on the Group F table on four points, two in arrears of Argentina, three ahead of Iran and four clear of Bosnia who have now been beaten in both their matches.
Nigeria next meet the Argentines in Porto Alegre on June 25 while the Bosnians, who have now been eliminated, will prepare for their final group fixture with Iran in Salvador on the same day.
2014 FIFA World Cup - Group F
Nigeria: 1 (Peter Odemwingie 29') Bosnia-Herzegovina: 0
Arena Pantanal, Cuiaba - 40,499
Yellow cards:NGA - John Obi Mikel 81' BIH - Haris Medunjanin 6'
