Nigeria manager Thomas Dennerby and Asisat Oshoala met with the media at the Stade des Alpes to discuss tomorrow's crucial Group A game against South Korea at the ongoing World Cup in France.
Here is what they told reporters present :
Do you have any injury problems after your first match. Is there anyone who is doubtful for this game?
TD : ''We have Faith Ikidi, she is actually at the hospital right now for a MRI. I guess it is a ligament rupture but we'll find out later today. All the other 22 players are fit.''
Do you consider this a game you have to win? It seems on paper if it's a draw it's not really enough for either team.
TD: ''Yeah, of course we want to win this game. I know that it's the same for South Korea. Definitely, it is going to be a battle but I think also that we are confident even if we lost the first game.
''We had a really good start first 25 minutes, the passing game was good and the pace of the game was good.
''If we can bring that also to the second game, I think we have a really good chance but of course we need to win. It's not the easiest game, the third game either.'' In English for Asisat. You've obviously been African champions so many times, I guess you are going to need that mental toughness going into this match tomorrow because you were disappointed with your performance against Norway.
AO : ''For us as a team I think we did our best, we had a good game, not a bad game overall. We lost concentration for a couple of minutes, that actually cost us the whole game but the next game we'll try to see what we can get out of it''.
How do you analyze the tactics and strategies of the Korean team as well as the individual capabilities of the Korean players?
TD: ''We know that South Korea is a skillful team, good passing, very quick players with good build up play. We definitely respect them and we come to the game with a lot of humility.
''I think if we use our best strengths - power and speed - we'll have a really good chance. It's a good team''.