Eagles to surprise teams of group D in Russia 2018 WC, says Rohr

Gernot Rohr has acknowledged that his team face a difficult task in Group D of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, following the Draw on Friday, but he has assured that the Eagles will surprise their opponents.

“This is a difficult group, but I think we can spring a surprise.”

“This is the youngest team in Nigeria’s history in the World Cup. We have the youngest team of the 32 teams here. So we have to learn.”

Rohr said their toughest match will be against Croatia on June 16 in Kaliningrad, because it will be Nigeria’s opener.

“The first game is always the most difficult,” he added. He submitted that the Eagles must have to get a good result from the top teams in the group to be assured of advancing.

“We believe that we can beat any of the top teams. We beat Argentina, but it was a friendly game.”

He also attributed Nigeria’s failure to fully fulfil the promise others saw in them to a lack of discipline that he intended to fix.

“I believe that African players have the talent, they have the physical and technical possibilities, but what they are missing is organisation, what they are missing is discipline,” said Rohr, who has also coached Gabon, Niger and Burkina Faso.