We are not one of the favourites – Mikel

Nigeria captain John Obi Mikel says the Super Eagles are happy to be underrated heading into the 2018
World Cup.

Nigeria have had an unimpressive warm-up programme for Russia 2018, with their last two matches ending
in defeat at the hands of England and the Czech Republic.

With a tough group stage ahead of them – which will see Nigeria play Croatia, Iceland and Argentina –
the West Africans are already being written off by critics.

Mikel, who will skipper the team in his second World Cup after playing in Brazil 2014, says the Super
Eagles are capable of surprising their opponents.

“We like where we’ve been placed. We don’t want to be one of the favourites,” Mikel told Al Jazeera.

“I think this will give the team enough motivation to prove critics wrong that we can actually do
better than they actually feel.”

Nigeria will open their World Cup against Croatia on Saturday.