Win Last Group Match! Sports Director Urges Super Eagles
Layi Adesiyan, Osun Director of Youth, Sports and Special Needs, on Monday urged the Super Eagles to win their match against Argentina on Tuesday to progress to the Round of 16.
Media reports that Nigeria will battle Argentina in their last Group match on June 26 at the Krestovsky Stadium in the city of St Petersburg.
Adesiyan told NAN in Abuja that the Eagles should go all-out to win the match which would definitely take them to the next level of the competition.
He said that La Albiceleste was not an unbeatable side, notwithstanding the quality of players in their squad.
"If Croatia can defeat Argentina with Lionel Messi in the team, then our players can also face them and beat them. Eagles need to put all their best in their last group match.
"This is a crucial match they should not be intimidated with the set of players Argentina have, especially the new players in our team.
"Players like Mikel Obi, Ahmed Musa who saved us from shame in the match against Iceland, should encourage their teammates to fight this crucial battle.
"We need to conquer Argentina so that we can successfully proceed to the next phase of the World Cup," he said.
In the same vein, Rufus Adedoyin, a professor of Physiotherapy at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, said he believed the Super Eagles would go beyond the group stage.
"We need to support them with prayers. I know that the technical crew will do the needful during the game.
"Super Eagles need to play with seriousness and determination, they also need to work as a team, and they must avoid any mistake that can put the country in a bad mood.
"I believe that by now the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) would have done what will boost the players' morale and encourage them to make the country proud again," Adedoyin added.
Meanwhile, Nurain Ayantola, a Lawyer, has predicted that Nigeria will defeat Argentina 3-0 in the upcoming Group D showdown.
"The coaching crew by now must have analysed the tactics of Argentina, the players in their team are not monsters that cannot be defeated.
"They may be well experienced and exposed than us, but in spite their knowledge of football, Eagles can still beat them.
"We all know that it will be a tough match compared to their two previous matches. We pray that the god of soccer should be on our side.
"If Eagles can see them like any other team, they will be less frightened, and with determination they will win their match against Argentina," he said.
NAN reports that the Nigeria versus Argentina match would hold simultaneously with the match between Croatia and Iceland to avert any form of undue collaboration among the teams in the group.
Croatia currently tops the group with six points from two matches, followed by Nigeria with three points from two matches, while Argentina and Iceland have one point each from two matches.
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