Former Nigeria international, Daniel Amokachi, believes that the Super Eagles of Nigeria are good enough to win the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. The Super Eagles will be making their 6th appearance at the World Cup this summer since making their debut in 1994 and Amokachi, a member of the Super Eagles team to the 1994 and 1998 editions, as well as scorer of NIgeria’s second ever goal at the World Cup, said in an interview on BBC that African teams must aspire to challenge for the World Cup rather than just participate.
“Will Nigeria get out of that group? Yes. Will Nigeria go far in the World Cup? Yes. Will Nigeria be able to win the World Cup? Yes. Africans have to start believing. They have to go past that stage of “your country got to the Second Round, your country got to the Quarter-finals”. No, I’m going to a major tournament to go and win it.”
Amokachi, popularly known as “The Bull” during his playing days went on: “If we had that mentality, we will go a very long way. And that was what killed us when we were there in 1994, that’s what killed Cameroon when they were there in 1990 and that’s what killed Senegal in 2002. Because they are just going there to have fun instead of ‘we are going there to win it’.”
The Super Eagles who are drawn in Group D along with Argentina, Croatia and Iceland at the 2018 World Cup have in five outings at the World Cup reached the Second Round on three occasions (USA 1994, France 1998 and Brazil 2014).