Utaka backs S/Eagles to overpower France

Former Super Eagles’ player, John Utaka, has expressed confidence the Super Eagles will beat France’s Les Bleus in the round of 16 clash in Brasilia.
Utaka, who currently plays for Sivasspor in Turkey, has previously played for RC Lens, and Stade Rennes in France, and said the Nigerian team keeps improving with each game and should have enough in them to beat former world champions, France.
“I strongly believe Nigeria will beat France in that round of 16 game. A lot of people may not see it so, but you just have to follow Nigeria’s progress since the 0-0 draw with Iran.
“The way they beat Bosnia showed lots of improvements in the team which gave them confidence. Even in the loss to Argentina, you could see the spirit with which they played. They equalized twice, before Argentina’s winner. That says a lot about Nigeria’s spirit and confidence and how far they’ve come since their opening game,” Utaka explained.
France are the undisputed favourites to go through, having finished top of Group E with seven points and a goals difference of six, against Nigeria’s second place finish with four points and a goals difference of zero.
And Utaka was not unmindful of that, and even praised the French for their impressive outing so far at the tournament, but despite the praises, he remained confident Nigeria would excel.
“The truth is, France have been very good at this World Cup and they deserve some credit.  I’m sure not so many people would have fancied them at the start of the competition, but in fairness, they have played some very good games and have recorded some big wins.
“But that notwithstanding, I still think that won’t be enough against Nigeria, because the drive with which the Super Eagles attack their opponents is breathtaking and I wonder if Argentina would have won without Messi. France have got a good team, but they do not have Messi,” said the former player of Stade Rennes in France.