Nigeria World Cup Focus: Wilfred Ndidi insists they will beat Iceland

Piotr Zielinski (R) of Poland in action against Wilfred Ndidi (L) of Nigeria during the international friendly soccer match between Poland and Nigeria in Wroclaw, Poland, 23 March 2018. EPA/Maciej Kulczynski POLAND OUT

by Phumzile Ngcatshe

Wednesday Jun 20, 2018. 17:00

Nigerian international midfielder Wilfred Ndidi has urged his teammates to forget about their loss to Croatia and focus on beating Iceland in their next 2018 FIFA World Cup match.

The West Africans are preparing to face Iceland on Friday as they want to bag their first win in Group C.

Gernot Rohr’s men lost 2-0 to the Blazers last Saturday night and will be hoping to bounce back in their second match.

“We are the ones that played the game and as Nigerians, we are disappointed with the result too,” said Ndidi.

“I understand the fact that everyone is disappointed but we just have to manage the situation and move forward to the next game which is very important and forget about what happened against Croatia.”

Rohr’s men put up a shambolic display against the Croatia and will want to avoid defeat at the Volgograd Arena on Friday to keep alive their hopes of making to the round of 16.

Iceland, who are playing at the World Cup for the first time, battled two-time winners Argentina to a 1-1 draw in their first fixture in Moscow.