WORLD CUP PREVIEW:On paper, Nigeria should beat Iran
On paper, Nigeria's Super Eagles should carry the day in their World Cup opener in Brazil against Iran.
It's a crucial game for both teams asneither has won a World Cup game in 16 years, despite featuring in three tournaments each since 1998 – the last time the current African champions made it out of the group stages.
For Nigeria, the margin for error is slim. World Cup favourites Argentine are in the same group and won their first game, so only the second slot of the table is up for grabs.
This is Nigeria’s fifth World Cup and Iran's fourth. The Lions qualified thanks to their mean defence, conceding just five goals in 10 Asian qualifying matches.
One meeting
An Ahmed Garba lone goal was the difference when Nigeria and Iran met at a full international, at the 1998 Carlsberg International Invitational tournament held in Hong Kong.
Nigeria’s coach, Stephen Keshi, is confident in his team's chances. “I have a group of players who believe in themselves. They want to go as far as they can in Brazil, and the formula we will employ is to look at what is immediately in front of us and focus and plan how to tackle it,” Keshi said.
Iran
In pre-World Cup friendlies, the Iranian Lions beat Trinidad and Tobago and drew with Angola, Montenegro and Belarus.
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Their Portuguese manager, Carlos Quiroz spoke of the team’s readiness to do business – despite pundits writing the team off as the competition’s underdogs.
“The purpose that we have is the same; to compete against the best teams in the world and I believe my players have made history over the past three years in terms of the hurdles we have to overcome.”
Iran's Pejman Montazeri is one of the players wanting to use the World Cup as a stepping stone in his career.
“We are not bothered by what people think of us. Everywhere you go you hear people say that we are the poor members of our group, but Monday will show who actually is the poor team here,” he said
Culled from The Guardian
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