Former Super Eagles defender Taribo West has explained why the Super Eagles of Nigeria will struggle to keep Argentina super star Lionel Messi in check when both teams meets at the World Cup in Russia.
Nigeria will play Argentina in their last group D game and according to West, the Nigerian defence line led by Leon Balogun and his partner William Troost-Ekong will find it hard to cope against Messi who is the focal point of Argentina in attack.
West said stopping Messi requires some specific skills set which the players in the defence of Nigeria can’t boast off at the moment but he advised Rohr to drill them on specifics needed to keep the Argentine quiet.
He said stopping a player like Messi is easy when you don’t pay too much attention to him, something he admitted he usually do during his playing days for the Nigerian national team including his spells at his various clubs.
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“We have good defenders, but from what I have seen, they don’t have what it takes to stop Messi at the World Cup. Stopping Messi requires special tactics which they don’t have.
“We don’t have the kind of defenders that can mark out Messi for 90 minutes and that will make it difficult for the Super Eagles.
“My advice is that they should not concentrate too much on him. During my playing days, you need just one player that will mark him out and throughout 90 minutes, there won’t be breathing space for him”, West said in an interview made available to Owngoalnigeria.com.
Shedrack Obi
