England Star Vardy Warns Croatia : Be Careful Of Nigeria, It Won't Be Easy

Published: June 15, 2018

Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy has advised the Croatia National Team stars to be wary of the Super Eagles when they face off in their World Cup opener on Saturday.

The England number eleven was a non-playing substitute as the Three Lions struggled to beat the three-time African champions 2-1 in a pre-World Cup friendly about two weeks.

Vardy believes the Super Eagles can pose a serious threat and he knows about the qualities of his Foxes teammates Kelechi Iheanacho, Ahmed Musa and Wilfred Ndidi.

The other Premier League stars in the Nigeria squad Vardy has faced are Chelsea's Victor Moses and Arsenal's Alex Iwobi, and the striker has also stepped out onto the same pitch with ex-Watford man Odion Ighalo and former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel.

''Nigeria is a strong team. To play a friendly with them which we played is one thing, playing official game against them is completely different,'' Vardy told reporters including Sportske Novosti.

''Croatia is very strong and can win but be careful: It won't be easy with Nigeria.''

He added : ''Lovren is a great player, a few years already proving this in the Premier League, you can be proud of him''.

Nigeria have never lost or drawn an opening game of the World Cup against European opposition, beating Bulgaria and Spain in 1994 and 1998 respectively.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel