Mikel confident Eagles can cause World Cup upset despite being tagged underdogs

SUPER Eagles skipper Mikel Obi is confident that Nigeria can cause a major upset at the forthcoming World Cup despite being written off and described as the underdogs of her tough group that contains the likes of Argentina and Croatia.

Nigeria is in Group D tagged the group of death alongside Argentina, Croatia and Iceland, with only the top teams proceeding to the next round. Tomorrow, the Super Eagles face the Leopards of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Port Harcourt in a friendly game to get them prepared for the tournament.

According to Mikel, Nigeria are more than happy with being written off, as ranked 47th below all the other teams, the Eagles have been tipped to struggle. Two-time world champions Argentina have beaten Nigeria four times at the World Cup, with the Super Eagles losing by the odd goal in each of the matches.

Mikel said: "When you look at the group I'd say we are more than happy for people to write us off and very happy to be the underdogs Honestly, people didn't expect us to qualify but we are off to Russia and now it's all about the rankings.

"When you look at the group I'd say we are more than happy for people to write us off and very happy to be the underdogs. It takes the pressure off the shoulders of our young squad and we can go about our World Cup with humility, which is perfectly fine.

Nigeria's Eagles are not short on confidence going into next month's tournament after defeating Argentina 4-2 in a friendly in Krasnodar last November and beating Poland away in March. After playing DR Congo tomorrow, the Eagles face England at Wembley on June 2 and then the Czech Republic in their final friendly game.

Mikel added: "Football is played on the pitch and not by rankings or permutations. We've got a blend of experience and a young squad playing without fear but with passion, which is good for us on the road to Russia.

"We have friendlies against DR Congo, England and the Czech Republic that will help us finalise our World Cup preparations. From the first game at the World Cup our target would be to keep progressing as a team and take it from there."

Nigeria will start her campaign in Russia against Croatia on June 16, then face Iceland on the 22nd before playing Argentina four days later. The Super Eagles reached the round of 16 in 1994, 1998 and 2014 but were knocked out of the 2002 and 2010 tournaments in the group stages.