CROATIA MATCH IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FOR NIGERIA – BONFRERE JO
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Former Super Eagles head coach Johannes Bonfrere believes the Nigerian national side must secure vital wins in their first two games in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia against Croatia and Iceland before a
last outing with Argentina to stand a good chance of advancing beyond
the group stages.
Bonfrere who was assistant coach to fellow Dutchman Clemens Westerhofat the 1994 finals hosted by USA whilst speaking on Brilla FM Saturday also reiterated that Gernot Rohr’s team must be wary of two Croatian key players on June 16 (next Saturday) in their Group D opener.
“The game against Croatia is the most important. Maybe Gernot Rohr has to play with five midfielders because they (Croatia) have two of the
best midfielders in the world (Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic).
“Iceland is a different team but I believe Nigeria can beat them. It
could be an easy game for Argentina that is why Nigeria need to have
two good results against Croatia and Iceland,” Bonfrere who in 1996
led Nigeria’s U-23 national side to win the football event of that
year’s Olympics in Atalanta, USA, added.
Commenting on the worrying performance of the Eagles in their
pre-World Cup warm up friendlies which saw them win one, draw two and lose thrice, Bonfrere said:
”It’s not bad to lose friendlies, what matters is improving upon what
you learned from the matches.”
And speaking on team discipline, Bonfrere responded:
“When I was the Super Eagles coach, I had to find a balance on how I
manage the players.
“Sometimes some of them will arrive the country ahead of time but you
hear they have gone to their families. I understand that after so many
months away in Europe, you need to see your family because these boys
bring financial gifts.
“As a coach you have to take it easy on the players or sometimes be
tough at training because they have different mental strengths.”
The Eagles will depart Vienna, Austria, on Monday for Russia before
their first Group D clash with the Croats.
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