Former Super Eagles head coach Samson Siasia has stated that midfielder John Obi Mikel is better than his Croatian counterpart Luka Modric.
Both Mikel and Modric are team captains for Nigeria and Croatia respectively, and according to Siasia Mikel is the better midfielder of the duo.
Mikel has moved away from Europe to play for Chinese side Tianjin Teda, while Modric is still running the show for European Champions Real Madrid, However Siasia is of the opinion that both midfielders still operate at the same level.
In an interview with Goal Siasia said, Mikel is in the same quality with Modric and Ivan Rakitic, even though Modric plays in Real Madrid,”
“Mikel has played in Chelsea for many years and he is doing well in the Chinese Super League. I think they will fight for that position on the field of play.”
Mikel and other Super Eagles stars Alex Iwobi, Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho unveiled the new jerseys that caused massive reactions on social media.
Siasia also stated that the game against Argentina cannot be used to determine a certain victory against the Albaceleste in Russia.
He said, “They need to play friendly games and make sure they understand themselves. The match against Argentina should not be a yardstick though we did very well and we were all surprised."
“However, the World Cup is a different ball game. We know Argentina very well but we don’t understand Croatia and Iceland."
He further went on to call for more friendly matches for the team for better understanding between the players.
“It’ll be a good thing to get a win and a draw between these two teams [Croatia and Iceland] then I think Argentina will be last get a draw and we will get to the next round.” Siasia said
Mikel's brother Ebele Obi had earlier stated that Mikel has set a semi-final target at the World Cup, while Croatian coach Zlatko Dalic has stressed the importance of the game between Nigeria and Croatia.
Nigeria and Croatia are both in the same group for the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, and face each other in their opening match at the tournament on Saturday, June 16 at the Kaliningrad Stadium.
Source : PulseNG
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