Don’t Judge Us on Friendlies Says Simy, as Eagles Head to Russia Sunday

BY Demola Ojo

Super Eagles new boy, Simeon ‘Simy’ Nwankwo, has praised the spirit in the Nigerian camp while staying confident that the team will overcome recent friendly results to excel at the Russia 2018 World Cup. The Super Eagles lost to England and Czech Republic in their final two World Cup friendlies after having drawn with Democratic Republic of Congo and lost to Serbia.

“We have learnt from the games we played and I believe we won’t make those mistakes when the World Cup begins,” he explained. “We know what is at stake and how Nigerians hope we start on a good note. Croatia will be tough but we know how to approach the game,” he told Complete Sports.

The Crotone striker, who gatecrashed Eagles’ World Cup squad this year, despite not playing a part in the qualifying campaign, has vowed to make the best use of the opportunity handed him by coach Gernot Rohr. “The spirit in camp is awesome and I can’t wait to seize this rare opportunity to play at the biggest stage in Russia,” Simy said.

This is as the Eagles will break up their pre-World Cup camp in Austria tomorrow and head for Russia aboard a chartered flight ahead of their opening group game against Croatia on June 16.

Nigeria will use the city of Yessentuki as their base camp for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Yessentuki is a city in Stavropol Krai, Russia, located at the base of the Caucasus Mountains.

After facing Croatia in their opening game, the Eagles will battle Iceland and Argentina on the 22nd and 26th of June.

Both Argentina and Iceland have left for Russia. The Argentina Football Association yesterday posted a picture of some of the players on their official Twitter handle boarding a plane to Russia with a short message at the top.

The La Albiceleste who have been perfecting strategy for the competition in Barcelona, Spain will face the Super Eagles in their final group game on June 24 in St Petersburg.

Similarly, Iceland Football Federation also posted a group picture of the 23 players who will be representing the country in Russia with a shot at the top, as they also head to Russia.

Meanwhile, the Super Eagles will wear new locally flavoured attire when they leave for Russia. The Eagles were poised to wear the attire during their visit to President Muhammadu Buhari last month but the stylist reportedly failed to meet the deadline set by the Nigerian Football Federation. The white native attire has green embroidery of the Super Eagles emblem on the chest.

The white trousers and predominantly white tunic go with white shoes with knots of green at the top to match. A white South-South style hat completes the dashing outfit.