Former Super Eagles
midfielder Mutiu Adepoju has offered tips on how Nigeria can tame
Argentina’s stars when both teams battle for three points in their
opening group game of 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Our Eagles will
start their campaign against their toughest rivals in group B at the
Ellis Park in Johannesburg on June 12. The South Americans already
considered one of the favourites to win the global silverware this time
around with the quality of players in their squad, including the
current World Player of the Year, Lionel Messi.
Argentina’s coach,
Diego Maradona, has stated that he already has over 50 percent of his
World Cup squad listed while the Nigeria Football Federation, only
recently named Lars Lagerback as the coach to take the Eagles to South
Africa.
Adepoju was a 57th
minute substitute for Samson Siasia when Maradona captained his country
to a 2-1 victory over our Eagles at the Foxboro Stadium, Boston, in the
1994 World Cup held in the United States. The memories of that
experience linger as he looks forward to a huge game for Nigeria, in a
year we are making our return to the competition after missing out in
the 2006 edition held in Germany.
Crucial game
“It is an important
game because it is the first game of the competition, which could be
significant to how well we perform in the competition. Though there are
situations where you lose first game and still go ahead to do well in a
competition but we have to be very careful in South Africa”, says the
former Real Sociedad of Spain star.
“We are in a tricky group and getting a result in the first game will help. That will be difficult but it is not impossible”.
Adepoju who was
nicknamed the Headmaster in his day believes the key battle lines for
Nigeria against the Argentines will be in the midfield and the attack.
“I am not too sure
they are strong enough in their defence line. They could still want to
use the experience of the like of Walter Samuel and Gabriel Heinze to
lead their back line but I believe like it is known to a lot of people,
Argentina’s main strength lies in the middle and the attack.
“They have a lot of
quality in those two departments and our defenders will have a lot of
work to do. Their key players, Gonzalo Higuain, Lionel Messi and the
young man Sergio Aguero all play in Spain where there is so much
emphasis on passes and movement, two things that will work very well
especially when there is enough space to operate.
“We all know what
Messi could do with the ball, he has the pace, skills and techniques
but he enjoys it well when he is given space to operate. He has got a
very good left foot but people sometimes forget he makes use of his
right too.”
20-year-old Higuain has shown a lot of potential, mostly clinical around the opponent’s box area.
“He has done very
well for Real Madrid this season. And Aguero is also another exciting
striker and don’t also forget that they’ve got (Carlos) Tevez who is
also doing well for Manchester City in England.
“I watched their
friendly against Argentina and you could see the impact of (Sebastien)
Veron and their captain, Mascherano on their play in the midfield. I
think we will need to be very tight in the midfield to deny them of
space and that means a lot of will need to be done on our fitness ahead
of the game.”
Adepoju also noted
that the Eagles would need to work on their sharpness and discipline
because they are naturally tricky in on and off the ball situation.
“We have met at a
couple of times at the Olympics and at the World Cup level, so there is
history between the two teams. Technically they are better with players
who are playing at top level of European football,” he said.
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