#NGRCRO: World Cup Match Preview: Nigeria vs Croatia
Come Saturday the 15th day of June, the Super Eagles of Nigeria will play their first World Cup game against Croatia.
The game will parade a large array of stars from the both teams, the likes of Modric of Real Madrid, Rakitic of Barcelona, Mandzukic of Juventus, Lovren of Liverpool, Perisic of Inter Milan will be bringing their experience and skillfulness to the game.
The duo of Modric and Rakitic, have 194 caps between them, Vedran Corluka boasts of 97-cap, 82-cap for Mario Mandzukic and 64-cap Ivan Perisic , the level of experience in this Crotia team is mind bouggling!
Currently Ranked as the 20th footballing nation in the world, 28 places ahead of Nigeria on the latest FIFA ranking. Croatian national team is managed by Zlatko Dalić. Zlatko Dalić a 51-year-old who played as a defensive midfielder in his playing days and he will likely go fora 4-2-3-1 formation.
Bookmakers have tipped Croatia to win the game with a 51% chance to win and 28% for a draw result.
The Super Eagles team which was tagged the youngest team in this year’s edition of the world cup is majorly made up of young players with little or no World Cup experience. Mikel Obi, Elderson Echiele, Ogenyi Onazi, Ahmed Musa and Victor Moses are the only players to have played in a FIFA world cup before.
The notable star players in the team are Mikel Obi and Victor Moses. Both players have played at the biggest football stage in the world, especially Mikel who has won that is to be won as regards club football.
The team will be led by German tactician, Gernot an experienced manager, who led Bordeaux to UEFA cup final in 1996 and was sporting director at Frankfurt.
He has coached Gabon, Niger and Burkina Faso national teams and that gives him the knowledge of how to manage an African team. Rohr is a big fan of 4-3-3 formation and he’s very particular about the defensive set up of his team.
According to google win probability, Super Eagles has just 21% chance to defeat Croatia and are ranked 47 by FIFA.