Nigeria and Iran face off against each other in their opening match in World Cup Group F action from Curitiba. Both teams will need to garner all three points if they want to have any chance of qualifying from the difficult group, which includes Argentina and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Nigeria has the upper hand in this matchup. The ‘Super Eagles’ will wish to attack early and often and although they have been relatively poor in the run up to this World Cup, they will fancy their chances against an Iranian side that hasn’t qualified for this tournament since the 2006 edition in Germany. Iran will look to counter against the Nigerians through forceful striker Reza Ghoochannejhad, nicknamed “Gucci”, who plays his trade for Championship side Charlton Athletic.
The Nigerians have some quality talent in the attacking third with Premier League players Victor Moses and Peter Odemwingie the two main target men. In the midfield, John Obi Mikel will look to control the pace of the game and drive his team forward. Nigeria’s coach, Stephen Keshi, will urge his team to look for an early goal in order to beat a lackluster Iran side that come into this tournament ranked 43rd in the world.
Expect this match to be free flowing and attacking. Both sides will look for all three points as anything less than that surely means elimination. Yesterday, Argentina showed it’s attacking prowess and Bosnia-Herzegovina showed that they are a resilient side, and those two are projected to advance from this group, so a positive start is needed from both Nigeria and Iran if they wish to have a shot at making the knockout rounds. That said, the Nigerian side features plenty more quality and experience than the ‘Princes of Persia’ from Iran and therefore they should have no trouble handily defeating their Iranian opponents.
My Prediction: 2-0 Nigeria
Betting Odds Courtesy of Bovada.lv
Iran – Pick (+180) // Moneyline (+290)
Nigeria – Pick (-220) // Moneyline (-105)
Draw – (+250)
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