I respect Croatia but……—Rohr

Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr may have absolute respect for Croatia, their first FIFA World Cup opponents in Russia, but has said, it should not be interpreted to mean he fears the East European nation.

“They have wonderful players. Players that are doing well in Europe. Well followed all over the World.
But that does not mean we should fret over them. My team maybe young but won’t be caged by names,” he
told reporters at the team’s training ground at Essentuki.

Nigeria and Croatia kick start their World Cup campaign on Saturday at the Kaliningrad Arena, a 36-000
seating capacity Stadium, with Rohr expressing confidence that he has the players that can match the
likes of Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic, Ivan Perisic, Andrej Kramaric and Mario Mandzukic.

He based his confidence on the team’s collective spirit which he said has been its driving force since
coming together in 2016.

“We don’t have big names, but l have a team that bonds well but on and off the pitch,” he concluded.