It will be a fight to finish when the Super Eagles trade tackles with Croatia in the opening group D game of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia on Saturday, June 16.
Super Eagles Head Coach, Gernot Rohr made this known over the weekend as the team prepared to head to its World Cup base camp in Essentuki, Russia on Monday from its Aviva Resort camp, Bad Tatzmannsdorf in Austria.
He said losing three consecutive warm up games against Serbia, England and Czech Republic will not dampen the team’s spirit but will push them to redouble their efforts in order to put up a good showing at the World Cup starting with the game against Croatia.
Rohr said, “We will take it one match at a time. I love this group because we know how to rise to the occasion together. Nigeria will be ready for Croatia.”
Although Nigeria are the least ranked team in the group, the German tactician noted that that would count for little when the hostilities begin.
“We are okay with the garb of the underdog. But the defeats have done something for us – we have our heads firmly on our shoulders and we are focused.
“Together, we have reviewed the matches and learnt so many lessons. We will approach the World Cup matches differently,” he stated.