LAGERBACK EXPECTS TOUGH MATCH AGAINST GREECE

Super Eagles coach Lars Lagerback, says he expects the match against Greece to be a tough one, but believes his team would fly. He stated this at a press conference in Free State stadium, on the eve of the crunch encounter which could decide the fate of the Eagles in South Africa 2010 World Cup.

“The Greek team have many good players, strikers, midfielders. But we try to prepare with our starting eleven,” Lagerback said when asked about the quality of Otto Rehhagel’s team. “I see it (the match against Greece) as a positive challenge. Everybody in the team wants to go out and play a good game,” he said, while adding that the team is working more on its attacking prowess during training.

Although the Eagles lost their opening match 0-1 against Argentina, many Nigerians have expressed satisfaction with the performance of the Eagles and are full of optimism that the Eagles will do better against a tactically efficient Greek team, a thought that is not lost on Lagerback. “We hope that we can do more to live up to the expectation of Super Eagles fans in the Greece game,” Lagerback said.

Eagles coach also expressed satisfaction over the team’s attitude towards Thursday’s match and hinted that they have been working on defending set pieces better than they did against Argentina, whose goal came from a corner kick. Although he felt Gabriel Heinze’s goal should have been disallowed because of the foul on Chinedu Obasi, Lagerback admitted his defenders were a ‘little bit passive’. “We talked about it with the players and said we can do better with adjustments with the corners,” he noted. Obasi, who had a forgettable game against Argentina says the Eagles are focused on winning the match against Greece. “I don't know much about Greece. But we just have to focus on our game and do our homework,” he stated.

With a minus two degrees temperature forecast in Bloemfontein on Thursday, Nigerians are hoping that Lagerback and his Eagles team would not freeze against Greece. They would be praying for the Eagles to soar and secure a victory. At the USA ’94 World Cup, a Clemens Westerhof-led Eagles team ran away with a 2-0 win against Greece. Would it be more of the same on Thursday with Lagerback's Eagles? One hundred and forty million Nigerian fans wait with bated breath.