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Soccer, WC 2018: Croatia vs. Nigeria official in-game thread.
Coming off the back of a series of unimpressive international friendly matches, the ‘Super Eagles’ of Nigeria will want to quickly put their woes behind them when they take on Croatia at the Kaliningrad Stadium in the first Group D game, in what will be the nations first-ever meeting.
Croatia come into this game as the favourites, but have had mixed fortunes in the buildup to the World Cup (WC) as they endured two defeats (2-0 to Peru and Brazil, respectively) and two wins (1-0 against Mexico and 2-1 against Senegal) and will be hoping to put a good show against their Nigerian opponents in a group that also includes Argentina and Iceland.
Nigeria have lost each of their last three opening games of the WC since 2002. The Super Eagles are also without a victory in their last four matches - including losses to European countries England, Serbia and the Czech Republic.
Aside from their sensational run at France ‘98 that saw Croatia finish as the third best team in the world, ‘the Blazers’ have since failed to qualify from the group stages of the WC. Nigeria meanwhile, are playing in their sixth finals and have made it to the knockout stages of the WC three times since debuting in 1994.
Key battle: Two midfield maestros, Luka Modric (CRO) and John Obi Mikel (NIG) will battle for supremacy in midfield and the winner will likely play a role in influencing his side’s fortunes here.
Stat attack: There have been under 2.5 goals scored in nine of Croatia's last ten games.
Nigeria have performed badly against European opponents losing three of their last four.
Croatia have never lost to an African side: P5, W3, D2.
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Originally Posted by Thrilla
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