FRANCE 98 – NIGERIA are not favourites, according to IKPEBA

NIGERIAN Victor IKPEBA arrived in Ressons-sur-Matz (80 km north of PARIS) on Saturday, with the rest of the Nigerian delegation. The Monaco forward, who is going from strength to strength within the French championships rewarded autograph hunters in this small Picardie community. He even explained, with a smile, that NIGERIA “is ready to play any team except…FRANCE. They’re the favourites, they have wonderful supporters, and they have every chance of going all the way in this competition. This is why we would prefer to play our last sixteen match against DENMARK or another country”.

In order to do that, they will have to finish head of group D and beat PARAGUAY, BULGARIA and SPAIN. “The Spanish are the favourites in our group. We’ll have to wait and see what we can do against them. Our friendly matches didn’t really prove much and it’s disappointing to have lost against the NETHERLANDS. At the moment we are a little behind schedule in our preparations”. The NIGERIANS still have a few days to defend their reputation and Olympic title won in Atlanta in 1996. The moment of truth is planned for Saturday June 13 in NANTES where Victor AKPEBO and his team-mates will meet SPAIN. “People are talking about us as possible winners of the World Cup, but the favourites remain BRAZIL, ITALY, GERMANY and ENGLAND, as for each World Cup”.

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