Former Nigeria international Mutiu Adepoju says the Super Eagles should be on alert to stop either Swaziland or Djibouti wreaking havoc when the 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifiers begin.
The 2013 African champions got an easy draw in the second round of the race to Russia, but the former Real Sociedad midfielder feels Nigeria should be aware of the strength of their rivals heading into qualifier, while also calling for early preparation.
“I think it is a fair fixture. On paper, Djibouti and Swaziland are not very strong – and I don’t want us to think that way because if we do, we could be punished for it,” Adepoju told Goal.
“Early preparation for the Eagles is very essential here because it will put them in the right frame of mind.
“And it won’t be a bad idea playing teams like Cameroon and Senegal in friendly games as we hope to secure a place at the 2018 Fifa World Cup,” he added.
“At this point, we shouldn’t underrate any team because there are no longer minnows in world football, so we have to take both countries seriously.
“Mind you, everybody wants to beat Nigeria, so we have to prepare adequately and ensure we don’t make mistakes.
“Oliseh will definitely field the country’s best legs but we have to be very careful in our approach. Though, the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers precede our second round qualifier against either side, the preparation should be a continuous one,” he concluded.
The qualifying stages have been grouped into three phases with the lowest ranked countries on the continent to begin the preliminary stages from 5-13 October 2015. The winners of the first round will join the 27 countries, ranked highest in Africa in a home and away tie.
The winners after the second round will be paired into five groups consisting of four countries each and they will face each other in a home and away ties from October 3, 2016 to November 14, 2017, with each group winner automatically qualifying to the 2018 Fifa World Cup in Russia.
No comments:
Post a Comment