Onazi, Ideye, Echiejile, Ekong sure of Russia 2018 ticket

Lazio of Italy midfielder, Ogenyi Onazi and Olympiacos of Greece striker Brown Ideye  have expressed confident that the Super Eagles will secure a third back-to-back World Cup ticket and qualify for next World Cup in Russia by emerging tops in Group B which has Algeria, Zambia and Cameroon.

Onazi said with good planning, Nigeria would qualify from the group many perceived to be very tough.

“This is not a bad draw. I believe the Super Eagles are equal to the task.

All we need to do now is to start planning from this very moment. We have to get our coach in place and give him, whether white or black, a very conducive environment to work.

“I am confident that by the grace of God we will qualify. We will give our 100% in every game and try to win whether home or away. Every match must be taken as a matter of life and death.”

Ideye who only recently staged a comeback to the team and also scored a goal in the friendly encounter against Luxemburg stressed that the Eagles would take all matches seriously to grab the ticket.

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He said: “Tough groups like the type we have found ourselves are to be expected. To get to the World Cup, we cannot cut corners or relax or take things for granted. The World Cup is the biggest football stage where you meet the best of the best, so getting there will be tough.

“Now, we have to be prepared to work hard. If we work hard together as a team we will win matches and if we win our games we will qualify.”

Monaco defender, Elderson Echiejile however admitted that the Eagles were drawn in a tough group and much work would be required to scale the hurdle.

“It is not an easy group, I must say, but we have all what it takes to finish top of that group and I believe we can. We have to start preparing NOW (put everything in proper place). It is never too early to start preparing for such matches. We are the Super Eagles,” Echiejile said.

Another defender, William Troos-Ekong of A.A.A Gent of Belgium also said the draw was tough but the Eagles would scale through.

“I think it’s a tough draw, but I never imagined we were going to get any easy opponents on the way to 2018 World Cup. I believe that we can do it. If we can put everything in place structurally for all members of staff and players to focus on just the games, together with the support of our nation we will be successful,” he said.

Eagles’ first game in the series is an away game against Zambia on October 3. This will be followed by two consecutive home matches against Algeria on November 7 and against Cameroon next year on August 28, 2017.

 

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