May 11, 2026

World Cup: Why Nigeria Lost to Croatia – Okocha

By Farouk Mohammed

Former Super Eagles midfield maestro Jay Jay Okocha has blamed the team’s 0-2 loss to Croatia in their opening World Cup game on lack of creativity.

Okocha, who was a guest on Super Sports TV, said the team lost because the players played in wrong positions which didn’t bring out the best in them.

“We didn’t have a creative midfielder today. Mikel Obi has been a great servant but I think his best position is sitting in front of the back four.

“We saw him play as a defensive midfielder in Chelsea and he did so well,” he said.

The veteran player also added that Alex Iwobi was the most creative midfielder in the national team at the moment but playing him as a winger “was taking his strength from him”.

“Iwobi can play from the wings in Arsenal because there is a Mesut Ozil who brings creativity.

“I think the only reason why we lost this game is because our players played in the wrong positions and we didn’t get the best out of them,” he added.

Nigeria will take on Iceland on June 22 and play their last Group D game against Argentina on June 26.

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