Two former Super Eagles stars, Alloy Agu and Emmanuel Amuneke have both expressed confidence that the Nigerian team will have a favourable grouping at the Russia 2018 World Cup draw on December 1, but also believe the side would be able to handle any team they are placed to come up against.
The Eagles by virtue of the draw procedure released by Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) on Thursday might be drawn against world heavyweights like champions Germany, Argentina, Brazil, France, Portugal and Belgium who are all in Pot 1.
The three-time African champions could also face top opposition like Spain and England who are in Pot 2 as well as Denmark and Sweden in Pot 3.
However, Agu, who is now the Eagles’ goalkeepers’ trainer, said he is confident the team is battle ready for any opposition after being placed in the weakest pot (Pot 4) ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup draw in December.
The former international goalkeeper is confident that seeing the Eagles defeat Argentina 4-2 in a friendly encounter in Krasnodar on Tuesday shows that they can compete against the world’s best at the 2018 Mundial.
Agu said: “First it is important to pray for a favourable draw but you don’t expect an easy game in a big competition like the World Cup,”
On his part, Amuneke says Nigeria must be ready to face the best teams in the world and believes the team can show their class if they brace themselves for the challenges of playing at the biggest stage of global soccer.
“Obviously, nobody gave the team a chance to beat Argentina in Tuesday’s international friendly but we all saw how they rattled Argentina.
“They must be prepared for tougher and better teams than the Argentines in Russia. The World Cup is the biggest stage for any team or player to show their prowess and the Super Eagles should not be cowed about the prospect of beating the top teams.
If our team can be a bit dynamic and less predictable like they were against Argentina then we stand a chance of shocking these so-called big teams,” said Amuneke, who is now coach of Al Khartoum Watani FC in Sudan