Russia 2018: Eagles good for knockout stage ―Ebuehi

Tyronne Ebuehi believes Nigeria can make it out of their group at the World Cup.

The three-time African Champions are paired with Croatia, Iceland and Argentina in Group D.

Their opening fixture is against the Fiery Ones on July 16th before games against debutant Iceland and Jorge Sampaoli’s star-studded side.

And the right-back is confident of the team making it out, particularly targeting Nigeria’s first win over La Albiceleste at the finals, with failure to do so in past four attempts.

“I think we have a really good team – and if you see the group we can make it into the next round,” Ebuehi told Goal.

“We played against Argentina before in a friendly game, which we won. The most important thing is we can play as a team.

“We can beat Argentina again, you always have to believe. It doesn’t matter who you play against, however, Messi didn’t play against us in the friendly match.”

Having been just a squad member of the Super Eagles setup during the qualifiers for the quadrennial tournament, Ebuehi’s first real chance in the national team came in November’s friendly against Argentina.

The then-ADO Den Haag full-back was thrown into action at half time, with the Super Eagles 2-1 down – and was tasked with facing Angel Di Maria.

Not only did the player reduce the influence of the Paris Saint-Germain winger, he also played a crucial role as Rohr’s men fought back to claim a famous 4-2 victory in Krasnodar.

Reliving the experience, the 22-year-old says:”It [facing Di Maria] went well, it was a big lesson for me. It made me a better player, it was a dream come true.”

Ebuehi has become one of Gernot Rohr’s choice for then right-back position having started in the last friendlies against Serbia and Congo DR.