While Croatia are not among the favourites for this year’s FIFA World Cup, they do have one clear and considerable area of strength, which is in the midfield department.
Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr pinpointed it without hesitation, stressing that his Super Eagles must be set up in their opening match to combat “one of the best midfields” in the competition. Some have even suggested it will be the most formidable of all in Russia.
Super Eagles will be up against these three Croatian midfielders; Barcelona Ivan Rakitic, Real Madrid duo of Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic in the first game.
But, Rohr recently stated that he doesn’t have star players who can turn a game on its head, but with team and tactical discipline, the Eagles can make a head way at the FIFA World Cup tournament starting next month.
Rohr who has played three top notched friendlies with Argentina, Poland and Serbia said those matches have helped a lot in improving the team. ‘’In the team we are working on improving all segments of the game, only if you have everything you need, you can succeed in today’s football.
‘’I said already, today I do not have a lot of stars, but we want to have a big team with a winning mentality, great discipline in the field and beyond, and a great deal of mutual solidarity and communion. This is the way to success.’’ The Super Eagles came from two goals down to beat Argentina 4-2 in Krasnodar last November before a hard-fought 1-0 win over Poland followed by a 2-0 loss to Serbia in London in March.
‘’Friendlies are completely different from the matches at the mundial. Friendly games are like an experiment in the lab, while matches in the World Cup are realistic, real life,’’ Rohr explained to Sportske Novosti. ‘’I do not bother too much of the victories and defeats in the preparatory games, we are focused on building the best teams for the World Cup.’’
