The Super Eagles players on Monday in St Peterburg said that the team would beat Argentina in the last group D game of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Some of the players who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said that they were not afraid of the Argentines.
Ahmed Musa said that all the players knew the importance of the match.
”We know the importance of the match against Argentina, so we are going there for the three points stake. We know it would be a difficult game for us, but we are determined to win,” Musa said.
Shehu Abdullahi said that the team was confident of winning.
”We were confident that we would win our last match against Iceland, that was the mentality we took to the pitch and we won.
” We are going to approach our game against Argentina with the same mentality.
”We are not leaving anything to chance, we just have to get to the field and do the job.
”This is a different game from that of Iceland, so the tactics to be adopted by the coaches may be different.
”The team did well in the last game with the game plans to be adopted will depend on what the tactics the coaches come out with.
”The Argentines are fast playing team with good attackers, the coaches will have to look to the qualities of the players to come out with the tactics to use,” Abdullahi said.
Alex Iwobi said that it did not matter whether he would play against Argentina or not.
” It does not matter if I play against Argentina or not. What matters for me and other players is that we win and get the three points.
”We are well prepared just like we did against Iceland, we want to assure Nigerians that we will not disappoint,” Iwobi said.
John Ogu, however, admitted that the Argentines have good players.
”Though Argentina struggled in their last two matches, which make people to write them off, but against Nigeria it would be different, we know it would a tough game, but we are well prepared.
”We want to assure all Nigerians that we will put smiles on their faces,” Ogu said.
Nigeria is currently second in group D with three points behind Croatia with six points.
Argentina and Iceland have one point each.
The second slot for the round of 16 is still open for Nigeria, Iceland and Argentina.
Nigeria will play against Argentina, while the group leader Croatia will play Iceland.
All the two matches would be played at the same time.