Nigeria midfielder Alex Iwobi does not mind sitting out Nigeria’s final group game against Argentina on Tuesday as long as the team progress from Group D of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.
The Super Eagles face a winner-takes-all encounter against Argentina – a team which have beaten Nigeria four times in previous World Cup tournaments – in Russia’s second largest city of St Petersburg.
Nigeria have three points from two matches courtesy of their 2-0 win over Iceland in Volgograd last Friday, six days after a dismal performance led to a 2-0 defeat against Croatia.
Iwobi only made a cameo appearance in the win over Iceland but the Arsenal star is willing to sit, even more, if that would guarantee a win for the team team against Argentina.
“I don’t know if I’ll play or not,” Iwobi told www.aclsports.com
“That’s up to the manager because I didn’t play for as much as I would have wanted to against Iceland but the main thing for me is to get the result, I don’t mind if I play or not as long as we beat Argentina,” he added.
Iwobi scored twice as Nigeria peppered Argentina 4-2 in a friendly game in Krasnodar last November and the 22-year old says he is confident and in a good state of mind ahead of Tuesday’s encounter.
“I’m very confident and especially after getting that great result against Iceland, we’re very confident. So, we’ll prepare round and hope to get a good result against Argentina as well.
“We’re coping and we believe we can do well, we’re all excited to go out there and do it for our country,” he added.
Nigeria have no real injury or suspension worries ahead of the final Group D game. Captain Mikel John Obi is expected to shrug off an arm injury he suffered in the closing stages of Friday’s win while other members of the team have a clean bill of health.
Nigeria against Argentina will hold on Tuesday at the Saint Petersburg Stadium in St Petersburg, starting from 9pm local time (7pm in Nigeria).
