Legendary Croatia Striker Ivica Olić : Nigeria Powerful Team, Far Better Than Cameroon

Retired Croatia international striker Ivica Olić, who will be in the dugout when Croatia faces Nigeria at the 2018 World Cup as assistant manager of the national team, has rated the Super Eagles highly.

Although Barcelona striker Lionel Messi was excused from the game in Krasnodar, Olić was shocked that the Super Eagles thrashed Argentina 4-2 despite trailing by two goals in the first half.

''I was immediately shocked that on November 14, they played in Russia a friendly match with Argentina where they won 4-2 in Krasnodar,'' Olić  told sportske.jutarnji.hr.

''True, Messi did not play. It was an encounter in which Agüero had problems when he fell into oblivion. At half-time Argentina were leading 2-0. I looked at those goals.

''Nigeria is a powerful team, extremely fast, physically powerful, certainly uncomfortable. They are our first opponents, we need to analyze them well, they are, for me, much better than Cameroon with whom we met in the past World Cup.''

Olić scored the first goal for the Croatians after 11 minutes in their 4-0 demolition of Cameroon at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel