Gernot Rohr: 'We will make Nigerians happy'

Gernot Rohr: 'We will make Nigerians happy' | Russia 2018 World cup

Nigeria will play their first game on Saturday against Croatia as they begin the journey to glory at the World Cup 2018.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr said his team are ready and will make Nigerians happy with their performance at Russia 2018. 

Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr has stated that his team’s mission at the 2018 Fifa World Cup is to make Nigerians happy with results, attitude and game style.

The three-time Africa champions will be looking to go one step further than the second round with a young squad with an average age of 22.

Nigeria is in group D along with Croatia, Iceland, and Argentina, the German coach has said his team will put smiles on the faces of Nigerians with their style of play.

"We know this pressure. We have this all the time. We had it in qualifiers. I'm sure we'll make Nigerians happy. We have such a young team, maybe this World Cup is too soon for them,” Rohr said in his pre-match conference ahead of Croatia tie.

“We have the youngest squad, so maybe 2022 will be their World Cup. We want to make Nigerian people happy, it's not only the results, it's the attitude and the way we play.

"Football must also bring values to this big country. It will be a chance for Russian people and Nigerians to show the good values we share."

The Super Eagles are playing Croatia for the first time on the senior international level at the Kaliningrad Stadium on Saturday with the aim of starting their World Cup journey with a victory.

Gernot Rohr also stated that his team could shock the Europeans with a victory despite having one of the best midfielders in the tournament with players like Modric, Rakitic, Kovacic, Perisic leading their team.

“It's always exciting to play for the first time against a country. We are not the favourite of this group, Croatia are the favourite of this game,” he continued.

"Croatia are much higher than us in the FIFA rankings. We are supposed to finish last in this group according to the FIFA ranking. We are humble, modest, and ambitious, and we are wanting to get out of the group, so we have to get a good result tomorrow."