Soccer-Nigeria and Iran goalless in World Cup's first draw

CURITIBA, Brazil, June 16 (Reuters) - Nigeria and Iran, each without a World Cup win since 1998, extended their runs with a goalless Group F draw on Monday, the first stalemate of the tournament and a disappointing game at odds with everything that has gone before in Brazil. African champions Nigeria would have expected to chalk up a win over the Asian qualifiers, with tougher games against Argentina and Bosnia to come, but created little in a game desperately short on goalmouth action. Iran had not previously kept a clean sheet in their three finals appearances, but their packed defence worked overtime to restrict Nigeria to a few half-chances and long-range shots. Iran, whose only previous win came against the United States in 1998, went closest to a goal when Nigeria keeper Vincent Enyeama produced a sharp save to beat out Reza Ghoochannejhad's header from a corner midway through the first half. (Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Ossian Shine)