Nigeria’s sixth World Cup started in disappointment when they were beaten 2-0 by Croatia in their opening game of group ‘D’ at the Arena Baltika in Kaliningrad. Nigeria will have to avoid defeat today when they face Iceland at the Volgograd Arena in order to stand any chance of progressing to the round-of-16.

One player who Nigeria will be depending on is their star forward Alex Iwobi who has the important task of scoring against a very resolute Iceland team who got a surprising draw against Argentina in their opening game. The 22-year-old made his senior debut for the Super Eagles in 2015 and has gone on to earn 19 caps and has scored on 5 different occasions including a 1–0 win over Zambia to secure the Super Eagles a spot in the World Cup.

Iwobi was at the heart of every Nigerian attack in their opening game and if they were to break down the Iceland team they will have to look for inspiration from Iwobi.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2018