Argentina defender, Javier Mascherano, has revealed that the Super Eagles of Nigeria have always been a potential threat to them at the World Cup.
Having been pitted alongside Nigeria, Croatia and Iceland in Group D of the World Cup, the former Barcelona defender told UK Guardian on Sunday that Super Eagles shouldn’t be taken for granted despite their contrasting form in their friendly games.
He stated that Croatia and Iceland would also be difficult to beat but still believed that Nigeria’s level of disorganization has the effect of disorganising a team as a rival.
“And Nigeria are quite well known to us, we’ve always met in the last World Cups. They’re tough, not just because of their physical power, but because their disorganisation has the effect of disorganising you as a rival. And that’s when teams like ours suffer the most – in disorder,” he said.
“Iceland are a new team in the sense that they maybe don’t have a long football tradition but they’re a generation of players that have made history recently, with spectacular success at Euro 16, and qualifying ahead of Croatia.
“Croatia are a first-class side with top players, especially in the midfield, such as Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic, Rakitic … Perisic; a team to watch out, quality squad.”