BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil: Nigeria’s status as resounding favourites to beat minnows Tahiti in their Confederations Cup opener today has been compromised by a delayed arrival that leaves them just 36 hours to prepare for the game.
Tahiti became the first team to arrive in Brazil for the intercontinental showpiece when they touched down on June 7, a full 10 days before the Group B clash with African champions Nigeria in Belo Horizonte.
In stark contrast, Ngeria finally arrived at their Belo Horizonte hotel at around 03:00 local time (06:00GMT) yesterday, having flown in from Windhoek in Namibia via Johannesburg and Sao Paulo.
A row over bonus payments had put Nigeria’s participation in jeopardy, only for sports minister Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi to broker a truce between the squad and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
The Super Eagles have nonetheless gone 17 games unbeaten and will expect to open their campaign with victory against a side ranked 138th in the FIFA ranking.
Representing the French Polynesian islands in the south Pacific, which have a population of just 270,000, Tahiti have no previous senior tournament experience.
Their preparations have included a 7-0 thrashing by Chile’s under-20 side and a 1-0 loss to Brazilian second-tier club Mineiro, and forward Steevy Chong Hue knows his side could be set for a rude awakening.
“For an amateur player, it is a dream to face the best players in the world,” he said.
“However, for it not to become a nightmare, we have to keep working really hard so we are ready for the first game.”
Despite the vast disparity between the sides, Nigeria defender Efe Ambrose says the risk of international humiliation will keep his team-mates on their toes.
“We cannot afford to take any chances,” the versatile Celtic player told the FIFA website.
“Big shocks have happened before in these kind of tournaments and we don’t want to be the victims this time.”
Tahiti, who qualified by winning the Oceania Nations Cup, will hope to draw inspiration from the venue of today’s game, which was the scene of the United States’ shock 1-0 victory over England at the 1950 World Cup.
AFP
