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Super Eagles
defender, Danny Shittu, has set his sights on making Nigeria’s opening
game against Argentina in Johannesburg a miserable one for the South
Americans, especially their superstar forward Lionel Messi.

The game comes up
on Saturday at Ellis Park, venue of South Africa’s unforgettable
victory at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, and it will be the third meeting
at the FIFA World Cup between the Super Eagles and the Albiceleste.

Previous meetings
in 1994 and 2002 have all ended in marginal wins for the Argentines,
who on paper are favourites for Saturday’s encounter, mostly on the
basis of the quality of players their coach Diego Maradona has at his
disposal; top of which is reigning World and European Player of the
Year Lionel Messi.

Messi is coming
into the World Cup on the back of a memorable season with Spanish side
Barcelona, unlike Shittu who had a frustrating campaign with English
Premier League side Bolton where he failed to make a single league
appearance.

Despite his
inability to feature for the Trotters this past season, the 29-year-old
Shittu was named in the Super Eagles’ World Cup squad by Lars Lagerback
and he appears all set to make South Africa 2010 a memorable one.

“For me, it’s
almost as if the season starts now,” Shittu told reporters in South
Africa. “I’m fresh, fit and ready for the challenge that awaits me. I’m
excited by it, seriously. I have nothing to fear, why should I? When
you’re a kid playing with your mates, you dream about playing in the
World Cup. So now that I’ve arrived, I’m going to savour and enjoy it.
I’m not just here to take part and swap shirts after the game.”

Stopping Messi

And looking ahead
to the clash against the Argentines, Shittu added: “As a defender, my
job will be to stop [the opposition’s] attacking players and that is
all I’m focused on. Of course, they have some of the best players in
the world, if not the best in the world in Messi. But I’m representing
my country at the first World Cup in Africa.”

“This is very special to Nigerians and Africans. We are not here to
be a footnote in the story of Argentina. We have 100million people
supporting us in Nigeria; we are here to make an impact, anything else
will rightly be seen as a failure,” he added.