Games don’t get bigger than these and with a world cup spot up for grabs Super Eagles captain John Mikel Obi knows only a win can assure him of featuring in his second consecutive world cup with a game to spare.
Nigeria welcomes the Chipolopolo of Zambia at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo on Saturday in what is now the group decider as the other group contenders, Algeria and Cameroon have no chance whatsoever of qualifying.
As both teams continue with the mind games and tough talk, Mikel is sure of wrapping things up and avoiding the unnecessary mathematical calculations that has frequently bedeviled the Eagles qualification campaigns.
“We are taking this game very serious”, Mikel said.
“We must wrap this game up on Saturday”.
“Our team has shown professionalism, dedication and determination to be in this position”.
The reverse fixture in Zambia which was also the first match of the qualification campaign saw the Super Eagles run away with a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Alex Iwobi and Kelechi Iheanacho.
In the event that Nigeria wins, they could become the first team from Africa to qualify for the world cup holding in Russia next year.
The kick-off time for the match is 5pm.
