By Daily Sports on June 11, 2018

Fact is that Super Eagles are on the march again for this year's World Cup tournament in Russia. Nigeria will be parading a young team at the World Cup, a championship only the experienced and the fittest ply. Heads or tails, the Super Eagles will play against Argentina, Croatia and Iceland.

From the record of her World Cup warm up games, the fear from section of the fans that the team is not ready for the World Cup may seem true. However, for the other side, it does not go that way. From the look of things, its head coach, Rohr knows something drastic must be done on the team before our first game against Croatia. The confidence building must return. The fitness of the side which many have pinpointed as being under question is being seriously looked into to get a more upwardly mobile team ready for the task ahead, according dependable sources within the camp.

Confidence is very much needed in the entire side to make it more stable and action ready. The friendlies obviously did not go or work out the purpose it was set out for. The down to work after that Czechs Republic friendly cannot be wished away. It was obvious that a ready Eagles team I have followed over the years in World and AFCON would have settled for a draw game in worst case scenario.

Now the technical crew has looked critically at the entire team and knows all is not yet well with the team while some fans are betting themselves out to high heavens of nice posting in the fast approaching most popular football championship in planet earth.

Nigerians began to agitate about the readiness of her team for the Mundial shortly after the last friendly in Austria. They are in chorus that Eagles are not yet ready. They also acknowledged that despite the fact that the team is young, it is yet to hit the kind of form that saw it scale through in the dreaded group during the qualifying series. Some other school posited that some of the players that found themselves into the World team are not fit but some bench warmers in their respective club sides.

A common ground is that on a good day, the Nigerian side would have taken the battle to the English national side and holding them hostage until both teams sweat it out profusely through their pants before win or stalemate in the friendly. It also referenced to on the one against Austria where a heated argument among pundits came to common ground that Eagles had no business losing that game.

Now the difference is clear. Now that Rohr has gone back to the drawing board, it is believed that the squad would be knocked together for upbeat result in our very first group game opening encounter. I still maintain that no team in the World Cup is a minion therefore vigilance, quicksilver-like thinking, killer strategy, player quick reaction to opponents tricks and team play plus other on the field counter measures to neutralise opponent reaction is highly recommended. This would help the Eagles in no smaller way to come off whatever killer strategy their opponents may put forward.

World Cup is never an easy to conquer tournament. This is why commentators of great standing have often tagged the competition as where only the fittest survive. Nigeria like the other participants is aiming at winning the trophy as it is not exclusive of any country as it used to be. Things have changed and the game being one of such dynamic sports is not left behind.

In fact it is the sport most developed.  It is true that most Nigerians are not giving the Eagles much breathing space in this year\s championship but judging from the fact that football is no mathematics, we should not write them off. The game yes belongs to experience but we cannot also rule out that the young players have proved to be more effective as the game abhors old or aged players. Nigeria will be parading them in abundance and these boys can spring surprises on a good day.

As all hands are on deck for a last minute kind of dotting the i-s and crossing the T-s one cannot but wish Gernot Rohr and his crew well and on the other hand, advise John Mikel Obi led Eagles to sustain courage, confidence and determination as their watch word as they take on any of their opponents in the games.

They must have at the back of their minds that nothing is impossible in football. U-23 Eagles proved such at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games where Brazil and Argentina were neutralised against all predictions by pundits.

Nothing short of such repeat will be good enough. The materials are there. The experienced or the more exposed players among the Nigerian side will definitely guide and guard the young ones on the field of play. Methinks that with all embracing co-operation, the communication in the field of play will work out fine in our favour.

No doubt, the handlers of opponents must have through and through studied us critically especially our defence line. Uzoho, Ezenwa and the other lads must be up and doing to ward off opponents. They must be vigilant and fear no opponent's attacker or striker no matter how dare devil he may be. Fact is that no player no matter how good or creative plays with his two legs at the same time. Thorough calculation to avoid any act of carelessness must be drummed into their ears.

Let’s watch and pray for sterling outing by our team. NFF has done well to encourage the boys and the technical crew. The ball is now in their court and with God all things are possible.

Let us keep the discussion glowing on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsAPP, etc.

Keep shooting hard, till next week!!           .

POSTCRIPT

The heat is on as preparations for this year's biggest single sport event, the World Cup aka Russia 2018 fever grips teams and their handler including participating countries.

Nigeria is one of the countries that will fly Africa's flag in the football summit. The giant of West African nation has shown utmost seriousness to present great showing in the global football event.

To that effect, it has played series of grade A and B friendlies and the showing has been nothing but abysmal. Winning is the name of sports of any kind but in the context under review, the exercise was to tune up the World bound side to ascertain her level of preparedness.

The team in series of friendly matches won one, drew one and lost two. To this Reporter, as I did say earlier, winning is not all about it at that stage because the essence of it is to know the level of readiness of the team concerned and most essentially to know the weak areas and also how the players are responding to instructions.

Another reason is to know how the boys are handling situations when they are under severe pressure from opponents and how it comes out of it without conceding goal(s) in the process or if you like confusion.

Yes the Nigeria Eagles are made up of experienced and younger players some of them about to have their baptism of fire as World Cup players. They may have proved to be good players individually but the technical hand, Gernot Rohr has been under fire due to the level of the side he is taking to the World football stage which is not for rookies but strictly for thoroughbred players who are there to exhibit their skills and dazzle fans as the one month entertainment with the round leather object progresses. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. Keep shooting hard till next week!!

Source Daily Sports

Posted June 11, 2018

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