Hapoel Beer-Sheva midfielder, John Ogu, has warned Nigeria’s 2018 FIFA World Cup Group D opponents that Super Eagles will be coming to Russia to make up the numbers.
He said he is not unaware of the daunting task facing the team, given the pedigree of opponents like Argentina, Croatia and Iceland in the group, but expressed confidence in the ability of coach Gernot Rohr to get his tactics right.
“Of course this is the World Cup and it’s quite different from what we do at our respective clubsides, but Super Eagles deserve some respect too, most especially if you consider how Nigeria qualified for the tournament. Of course we never had it easy and we came up against some of Africa’s best teams,” Ogu told CSN.
“Yes we have Argentina, Croatia and Iceland but I’m confident we won’t be going to Russia for a jamboree, rather it will be strictly business when the World Cup begins.”
The former Academica de Coimbra midfielder posited that most of the players in the team would be attending their first World Cup and as such will be ready to make it a tournament of a lifetime.
“We want to represent our country in Russia and we are determined to do it extremely well. Some of us will be playing in our first World Cup and you can be sure we want to make the best tournament of our careers,” he added.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva were confirmed league champions for the third straight season on Saturday, despite their 1-0 home loss to Jordi Cruyff’ s Maccabi Tel Aviv, in the six-team Championship play-offs.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva claimed the title following a 3-3 draw between Bnei Yehuda and Beitar Jerusalem also on Saturday.