The great world divide is beginning to close

Jay-Jay Okocha is a legend of African and Nigerian football, who played for the Super Eagles at both the 1994 and 1998 Fifa World Cups. Here, in the first of a series of exclusive interviews with The Citizen, he gives his views on the opening few days of the 2018 Fifa World Cup in Russia, with a particular focus on the performance of Nigeria.

On who has impressed him the most so far at the 2018 Fifa World Cup

I will say Mexico, because nobody saw that coming (the 1-0 win over Germany) and to absorb all the pressure they did … It wasn’t that Germany played that badly, but Mexico had a game plan and they executed it very well.

On why there have been so many surprises at this World Cup so far

I think the gap has been bridged, if not for Saudi Arabia (who lost their opener 5-0 to hosts Russia). You find it difficult to see any team being beaten by that kind of margin. We know what Iceland (who drew 1-1 with Argentina) are all about, they finished top of their (qualifying) group, which Croatia was in as well. You do expect Iceland to sit back and wait for the opportunity through a set play, but I also think Argentina were a bit unlucky. Had it been that Messi had scored that penalty maybe it would have been a different outcome.

On whether head coach Gernot Rohr should have used different tactics in Nigeria’s 2-0 loss to Croatia

Later on in the game, yes. At the start of the game, I won’t blame him tactically, you have to sometimes go with your game plan and see how it plays out, but I was disappointed because it wasn’t working for us and he should have maybe made a change. He just changed personnel and not the structure of the team. Because of that we suffered. A lot of players didn’t play to their best because they were not comfortable where they were playing.

On whether Nigeria can still make it out of Group D

Yes, I mean one loss, it is not done yet, mathematically it is still possible. We all know it is not getting easier, being bottom of the table and now playing Iceland next, but you still have to believe. You have to go out and put in your best … I believe the chances are still there for us to qualify.

On whether Rohr should make tactical changes for the Iceland game

I would, because it is almost a must-win game for us, anything less than that, having to look for a win against Argentina would be more difficult. We don’t want to go into that game with that kind of pressure. You want to put yourself in contention and in a good position before then. Iceland will never go at you, unless you sit back against them, which is not our quality. As a manager I would change things.

On whether he thinks Gernot Rohr is the right man for the job

Definitely, he has done a good job for us so far, looking at the bigger picture.

On which other African sides he thinks can still make it out of the group stages in Russia

I think … Morocco and Egypt didn’t play badly, they just lost their matches on individual errors. This is still our problem, if we (African sides) can learn how to limit our mistakes, especially when defending set pieces, and stay focused to the end of the game, I think we can challenge any nation.