…charge African teams to make impact
With Nigeria’s 0-2 loss to Croatia in their opening match at the ongoing World Cup now history, the stage is set for the Super Eagles to prove their soccer prowess in their second Group D tie against Iceland on June 22.
Already, the duo of Jonathan Ogufere, a former president of West Africa Football Union, and Friday Ekpo, ex-Nigeria midfield dynamo, who lamented the loss, are however urging the team to use the remaining two matches to secure qualification to the next stage.
Ogufere said Group D is very tight when assessing the soccer pedigree of the countries in it, but said that the Super Eagles must rekindle their soccer prowess as they did against Spain at USA’94 FIFA World Cup.
“I think the Super Eagles should take inspiration from their match against Spain at USA’94 when they stunned the soccer world with an emphatic massive win in their group opener against mighty Spain.
“Frankly speaking, Iceland is a very formidable side and must not be underrated by Nigeria, and I expect the Eagles to play with great caution and take their chances when they come,” he began.
Reacting to Egypt’s 0-1 loss to Uruguay in their Group A opener, Ogufere, who is also the president of Association of Sport Veterans of Nigeria, said Egypt gave a good account of themselves in the first half, but that they should have raised their game in the second half to avoid that defeat.
“It was a cagy but tough game, and Egypt contested well against a resilient Uruguayan side that had the like of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani upfront.
“Experience also counted for Uruguay as they won 1-0 to retain their record as having not lost to any African side at the Mundial.
“My advice to Egypt is that they must work hard, introduce Mohammed Salah if fit then go ahead to win their two remaining group matches to guarantee qualification to the second round of Russia 2018. Senegal set the pace for Africa at Japan/Korea 2002 by getting to the quarter-final stage of the Mundial but they lost 1-0 to Turkey. Africa deserves to be made proud at Russia 2018,” Ogufere stressed.
The best the Super Eagles have attained in the previous five World Cup appearances was getting to the Round of 16 in 1994, 1998 and 2014. But in the comparison, countries like Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010 have moved as far as the quarter finals.
Nigeria has an ambition of scaling beyond the previous height, aiming to get to the semi-finals and Ogufere, who had been a member of the previous regimes of the then Nigeria Football Association in the 1980s, explained that doing better than the past involves sitting down to review the past in order to project for the future.
Ogufere pointed out that some years ago; the Nigerian team was always a force to reckon with, but there is need to find out where and how they went wrong so that they can be on course again for greater glory.
Also, in his reaction to the upcoming cracker against Iceland, former Super Eagles midfield maestro, Friday Ekpo said the Eagles must be wary of ‘giant killers’ Iceland and must not give them an inch to operate.
“It’s going to be a tough game, though available records have shown that Iceland has the capacity to survive any onslaught from Argentina and Nigeria, because they stunned England at the Euro Championship, so they are not an easy meat,” Ekpo cautioned.
He further cautioned African teams to intensify their walk rate in order to make the continent proud at the Mundial.
In his reaction on the opening game of the Mundial between Russia and Saudi Arabia on June 14, Ekpo said the hosts proved that they were in for real business following their 5-0 whitewash of the Saudis.
“Prior to the opening game, soccer pundits saw the match as a walkover and it was so!
“Saudi lost 5-0 because they refused to take their chances in the first 20 minutes of the game and paid dearly for it. I pray they recover from that shocking defeat and see how far they can go at Russia 2018,” Ekpo said.
He however wished all African teams, great luck as they carry the banner of the continent at the Mundial.
