LAGOS, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian football fans are in high spirits ahead of the team's crucial FIFA World Cup fixture against Argentina on Tuesday evening.
The Nigerian Super Eagles will face Argentina in their last Group D match in Saint Petersburg. Nigeria are currently three points behind Croatia who collected the maximum number of points available after beating Nigeria and Argentina. Argentina and Iceland prop up the group with a point each from their respective games.
The Super Eagles defeated Iceland with the help of an Ahmed Musa brace to move ahead of Argentina in the standings. Bitrus Bewarang, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) national technical director said the Super Eagles must see Tuesday's match against Argentina as "serious business."
Bewarang acknowledged that they are capable of the unexpected after their 2-0 victory over Iceland. He also told reporters that the team has "no reason not to beat Argentina." Some supporters have warned the team against being too defensive against the South Americans.
Mutiu Adepoju, a former Nigeria midfielder, urged the handlers of the team to be steadfast in the decisive match against Argentina. He said the team needs to play better than they did in their victory over Iceland.
The former Real Madrid player said he believed that Nigeria would win the game to qualify for the round of 16, if the team believes that they can play a better pattern. Christian Chukwu, a former Nigeria national team coach, also urged the players to exhibit team spirit [in order] to overcome Argentina.
The Super Eagles met Argentina for the first time in Nigeria's maiden appearance at the 1994 World Cup, where Diego Maradona captained the team that defeated Nigeria 2-1. Nigeria also met Argentina at the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup where they lost 1-0. They also lost to South Americans at the 2010 edition of the tournament and at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
