France out to end Messi’s World Cup dreams
Are you also disappointed with the performance of the Super Eagles at the ongoing 2018 World Cup in Russia? For sure I am disappointed. We expected them to go further than they did. It is just unfortunate that we couldn’t reach the last 16 as usual. But then what can do we do? We just have to accept the situation for now and come back home and start afresh again. We thought this time around, we would get to the round of 16 and then take it from there. Unfortunately, it ended the same way. The boys went, tried their best but couldn’t conquer. I am sure the players too are pained by their early exit. I am sure they wanted to do better.
Are there any positives from Super Eagles participation in the 2018 World Cup?
I think we have got some good young players in the team. The coaches have to continue from where we have stopped. They have to get a good team out of the players who are going to continue. The world Cup is over, 2019 is the Nations Cup which is around the corner. I believe we should start now instead of pointing accusing fingers at the players and officials. Football is team game, not an individual game.
Would you say Super Eagles’ opening day loss to Croatia set the tone for their early exit?
Yes because in every competition, either Nations Cup or World Cup, your first game is very very important. If you can win or draw the first game, it then means there are chances that you will stay in the competition. The same thing happened to Germany and they paid dearly. Losing the first game to Croatia didn’t help our campaign. After the defeat, morale was low. The Eagles needed to regroup. They were able to pick the pieces against Iceland but our next opponents, Argentina were terribly wounded. We got all the chances to kill them but we couldn’t and they dealt with us again.
Is there anything you feel they team should have done better?
What they were supposed to do, they did very well. They played as a team. They fought to the end. However, against Argentina, we didn’t get it right. We had the chance to win, we should have held on to the end but in the 85th minute, I believe that was when Argentina scored the winning goal, we fell short of expectations. I don’t know if I should ask a question or provide an answer. Did we have coaches in Russia or we have a coach?. I think when you have coaches, they come together as a team. Even for those of us who were not in Russia, we saw clearly that there was need to ring changes against Argentina. And I believe because they have coaches, they should have advised the head coach that let us have a change. That didn’t happen. We saw the Argentines bringing in strikers. There was need for us to also bring in defensive midfielders or defenders. Was Rohr the boss instead of head of the technical crew?. If he was the boss, then maybe it was not possible to advise him. I don’t really know if we have a coach or coaches. The question is left for them to answer. I believe the NFF bigwigs who were in Russia also saw the need for the coach to introduce fresh legs against Argentina. As I said I don’t know if we have a boss coach. If we had coaches, the situation would have been different. They need to answer this question for Nigerians to have an idea of what happened. I believe that if the technical crew worked as a team, we would have gotten at least a draw against Argentina.
Would you support calls for Gernot Rohr to be relieved of his position as Super Eagles technical adviser?
Well, I wasn’t the one who employed him. Those who employed him were in Russia, they saw what he did. I have only analysed what I saw. Maybe it is even different from what they saw in Russia. What I saw is what I have said. My opinion is that if we had coaches on the bench, I think we would have qualified. If the NFF who employed him sees it differently, it is left for them to decide his fate. I only aired my candid opinion. If those who are in charge see it the way we ordinary Nigerians have seen it, fine. They are in a better position to decide Rohr’s future. My opinion is that they did well but if they had handled the match against Argentina very well, we would have still been in Russia.
After playing the most soporific game of the World Cup so far, France will feature in a seismic last-16 clash of former champions with a resurgent Argentina this evening, and they will have to drastically improve if they are to stop Lionel Messi.
Some fans jeered and others probably dozed off when Les Bleus drew 0-0 with Denmark to finish top of Group C while Argentina thrilled their fans with Messi scoring a superb goal as his team scraped into the knockout phase by beating Nigeria.
Jorge Sampaoli’s side may have disappointed, but they showed more in one game than France in three, scoring only two goals in open play.
But Les Bleus insist they will be ready just on time for today’s game after a tailor-made physical preparation, with talismanic striker Antoine Griezmann expected to finally shine.
In 2006, France huffed and puffed into the knockout rounds, where they beat Spain, Brazil and Portugal en route to the final.
A similar pattern applied to Argentina in 1978, when they won the World Cup after losing to Italy in the group phase.
“Lots of teams who went on to be champions started poorly and then recovered and moved on,” Daniel