Nigeria take on France in the round-of-16 tie of the 2014 Fifa World Cup at the Estadio Nacional de Brasilia, Brasilia, today at 5pm.
France coach Didier Deschamps welcomes back midfielder Yohan Cabaye from suspension. Mathieu Valbuena could also return to the starting line-up but defender Mamadou Sakho is doubtful due to a thigh injury.
Meanwhile, Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi has some injury problems of his own after the narrow 3-2 loss to Argentina in his side’s final group fixture.
Midfielder Michael Babatunde sustained a freak arm injury in that game and is unlikely to return to full fitness before the end of the tournament. Additionally, there are still doubts over the fitness of Victor Moses, who has made just one appearance so far due to a muscular problem.
Moses could take Babatunde’s place in the starting XI, but Michael Uchebo remains an option as well after coming off the bench against Argentina.
Up front, Keshi is likely to put his faith in Peter Odemwingie, Emmanuel Emenike and Ahmed Musa once more as Nigeria have set their sights on reaching the quarter-finals for the first time in their history.
“We fear nobody,” the 31-year-old with magnetic gloves said. “We have a culture for football. It’s our way of life. To be honest, we have great confidence in ourselves. We respect the French team but we are not afraid of any team in this competition”, he sounded.
| The burning enthusiasm to add the Les Blues of France to their list of victims is so overwhelming. Captain and record bearer of the Eagles, Joseph Yobo who guns for his 10oth cap for Nigeria was as emphatic as Enyeama when he told his team mates that they have nothing to fear when they play France today. | Super Eagles skipper, Yobo Joseph (2nd left) trains in Brasilia with team mates ahead of today’s World Cup match with France. Photo: AFP.  |
“We’ve just played against the best forward in the world(Lionel Messi, Angel Di Maria, Aguero), so we’re ready to measure ourselves against anybody. I don’t see what we should be afraid of. I believe in this team, and I think we can do it”.
Yobo said that the Eagles have very good players who can match up to what the French think they have. ‘’We have one of the best goalkeepers in the World in Enyeama. We have Musa, Emenike, Mikel, Onazi and many others. We are a good team and we are going to show it to the rest of the World tomorrow (today) in Brasilia”, he said.
Do the Super Eagles have what it takes to advance to the quarter-final?
NIGERIA
4-2-3-1
Enyeama; Ambrose, Yobo, Omeruo, Oshaniwa; Mikel, Onazi; Musa, Moses, Odemwingie; Emenike.
FRANCE
4-3-3
Lloris; Debuchy, Varane, Sakho, Evra; Cabaye, Pogba, Matuidi; Valbuena, Benzema, Griezmann.
Did You Know?
- This will be only the second international meeting between France and Nigeria. The Super Eagles won the previous meeting 1-0 in Saint-Etienne back in June 2009.
- Les Blues have lost two of their last three World Cup matches against African nations (2002 v Senegal and 2010 v South Africa). They beat Togo between these two defeats, in 2006.
- Nigeria have scored a goal in all but one of their previous 10 World Cup finals matches against European sides.
- The Super Eagles are aiming to become just the fourth African side to make the quarter finals of a World Cup tournament (after Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010)
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- Les Blues attempted more shots at goal (50; excl. blocked) than any other side during the 2014 World Cup group stages.
- France have won all three of their previous second round ties at the World Cup (2-0 v Italy in 1986, 1-0 v Paraguay in 1998 and 3-1 v Spain in 2006).
- On the last five occasions that France have progressed past round 1 in the World Cup, they have reached the semi-final stage (1958, 1982, 1986, 1998 and 2006).
- Karim Benzema has scored nine goals in his last nine appearances for France, including three goals in his three appearances at this World Cup.
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