Zeal, passion, determination will take Nigeria to Russia, says Esin

Former international midfielder, Etim Esin, believes the Super Eagles will qualify for the 2018 World Cup if the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) puts its house in order. Esin pins his optimism on the expected zeal, passion and determination from the players, who want to make names for themselves.

Nigeria is in the same pool with Algeria, Cameroun and Zambia in Group B from which only the top country at the end of the qualifiers automatically qualifies for Russia.

Speaking with The Guardian yesterday, the Chile ’87 Junior World Cup star, who confessed that the draw was a tough one, said the rivalry between Nigeria and Cameroun would be rekindled once again, but he picked Algeria as the toughest team of the group.

“Cameroun stopped us from going to the 1990 World Cup, which I was part of and now again we are in the same group with them. It is definitely going to be tough for us. Here also you have the strong Algerians; they are always a strong side and tough nut to crack. Every other country in this group had been to the World Cup before except the Zambians. Surprisingly, they may be the dark horse in the group, the Zambians too may want to qualify for the first time.