Nigeria’s first opponents at the World Cup is Croatia.
The game will be played on Saturday and the Croatians are favorites as they boast the likes of Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic who play for Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively.
The Eagles will have a fight on their hands to get out of a group that contains South American powerhouse and last World Cup Runners-up, Argentina, an Iceland team that shocked everyone at the Euros in 2016 and a Croatian team boasting with top talent.
Asked about his side’s chances against their first opponents, Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr said that he had a lot of respect for them and that on paper they are the much better side.
He said; “We admire this team, but we do not plan to watch them when we play against them, we hope to fight. They are all wonderful players…playing in biggest teams in Europe…On paper with their names, #CRO are much better than us.”
But he did not count his team out against them, backing his young Nigerians to find it within them to cause an upset.
“But sometimes on the pitch, it could be different. We don’t have their big stars, but we try to play collectively with our young team.” he said.