Super Eagles star, Ogenyi Onazi has described Argentina as a power house in global football, even as he thumbed up the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for securing such a high profile friendly against the Argentines.
Reacting to the news of the forthcoming encounter between Nigeria and the two times world champions, Onazi said it would be an honor to square up against a world class player like Lionel Messi, adding that such encounter will bring out the best in him.
The former SC Lazio midfielder, insisted that the Super Eagles will give the friendly game seriousness and commitment.
“It will be a privilege to play against him again. Every time we meet him, we learn, so I can’t wait to face him again as one of the best in the world,” Onazi began.
“Argentina is one of the powerhouses of world football because they possess arguably the best players on the planet currently. Though they struggled to qualify for the World Cup, they will always be a top side any day, any time.
“ We will take all our games serious and it does not matter if it is a friendly or not; we need to approach the game as if we have already started the World Cup because the earlier we begin to know our likely big opponents, the better we will be on the field of play.
“I really want to thank the NFF for this first class friendly they have organized; this is to show that we are really getting set for the World Cup as playing this kind of friendly will keep us in shape and make us understand the kind of opponents we might be meeting at the World Cup”’Onazi told AOIFootball.com.
The Super Eagles will square up against the Albiceleste of Argentina at the Krasnodar Arena in Russia, four days after their final Group B World Cup qualifier against Algeria in Constantine.
Nigeria and Argentina played two high –profile friendly matches in 2011, the first in Abuja in June ending 4-1 in favour of the Super Eagles.
The Albiceleste triumped the second encounter 3-1 in Dhaka, Bangladesh three months later.
