Nigeria’s “underdog” football squad need to play together and not as individuals, captain John Mikel Obi said, with the team acknowledging they face a tough group stage at the World Cup in Russia next month.
My 'underdogs' will surprise the world: Nigeria coach confident ahead of World Cup
“We have to make sure we play together as a team which is the most important thing; no individual players,” Obi told a media conference on Friday.
“No need to think that we are favourites, we’re still underdogs, so we have to go as underdogs in this World Cup and hopefully we can get good results,” he said.
Nigeria coach says team has ‘enough experience’
Nigeria, known as the Super Eagles, are ranked 47th by FIFA and face Argentina, ranked fifth, Croatia (18) and Iceland (22) in Group D.
“We have a very tough group,” said Nigeria’s coach, Gernot Rohr.
“It will be a surprise to come out of this group for a lot of people but perhaps not for me because I believe in my team and I think that my team, even though it’s young, has enough experience.”
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Obi added: “We want to do well, we want to do better than ever, we want to go one step further.”
Nigeria were held to a 1-1 draw by against Democratic Republic of Congo in the Niger Delta city of Port Harcourt in a friendly game on Monday ahead of the World Cup.
The Super Eagles also have friendly matches lined up against Poland, Serbia and England.