Nigeria captain, John Mikel Obi, says the team is eager to face England in Saturday’s friendly encounter at the Wembley Stadium and believes that the game is a big test for the Super Eagles ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Completesportsnigeria.com reports.
Mikel who missed the Super Eagles last three games is expected to lead the team against the Three Lions.
“Seeing the England team is a strong team and everyone is pushing to play, we believe that tomorrow game is a big test for us,” the Tiajin Teda of China midfielder stated during his interaction with the media here in London ahead of the game on Friday.
The Super Eagles have made it to the Recond Round thrice in their five previous appearances in the World Cup, but Mikel is confident they can surpass that achievement even though they are not under any form of pressure to do so.
“The team is under no pressure, but we are confident of making history in Russia,” he declared.
“This group is a hard group and we are getting ready for each game, We will take each game one at a time and we are hoping for a better result in our matches.”
The former Chelsea star also expressed his delight with his leadership position in the team.
” I am very proud to be leading this team and it is big honor for me. We want to make history, we are underdogs and we believe we can go far than we have been before in the previous World Cups.
“I always try to pass the message from the coach to the team. There is great enthusiasm in this team and we want to achieve great things together.
“We want to play good football at the World Cup and we believe that it will favour us.
