Gernot Rohr believes this World Cup has come four years early for his young Nigeria side, but hopes they can perform under pressure.
Nigeria begin a tricky Group D campaign against Croatia on Saturday, with clashes with Argentina and Iceland to come.
And while Rohr acknowledges the need to make the Nigerian public proud in these matches, he sees performances as the priority – and expects an inexperienced group to deliver on that front.
“We know this pressure. We have this all the time. We had it in the qualifiers,” he told a pre-match news conference. “I’m sure we’ll make Nigerians happy.
“We have such a young team, maybe this World Cup is too soon for them. We have the youngest squad, so maybe 2022 will be their World Cup.
“We want to make Nigerian people happy, but it’s not only the results, it’s the attitude and the way we play.Football must also bring values to this big country.