Former Rwanda U20 manager Tomislav Obradović has explained why he is confident that Croatia will beat Nigeria in next summer's football festival in Russia.

The Croatian coach noted that the likes of William Troost-Ekong and Leon Balogun are strong defenders but there are no creative and world-class players in the Nigeria squad.

''West Africa, where Ghana, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast are the top football teams on that continent, mostly it is a French school. Their problem is not discipline,'' Obradović told Sportske Novosti.

''Almost all of them are very powerful, swift, but for a better result they lack certain player profiles. They have a lot of defensive players because they are strong, physically dominant, as they have fast wingers.

''But Nigeria has no creative players or real stars. This is our chance because they are key segments, game organization and defensive.''

Nigeria have never met Croatia at the World Cup, but have defeated European opposition five times : Bulgaria (2), Greece, Spain and Bosnia.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel