FRANCE 98 – Nigeria-Paraguay – S. Oliseh: “In the World Cup, no match is easy”

Nigeria-Paraguay – S. Oliseh: “In the World Cup, no match is easy”

25.06.98 00h51 CET

Ben IROHA (19):

“That was my first game and unfortunately we lost. Maybe we didn’t take this match seriously enough. That was surely a mistake. We didn’t play as well as we could have. But on Sunday our fans will come to see us win in Saint-Denis.”

Taribo WEST (6):

“We were motivated because it was the first time a lot of our players were on the pitch. But they were tired by the second half. It’s hard to be enthusiastic when you’re losing. We’re not quite there yet, but with each match we’re making progress. I hope we’ll make it to the final. Only the gods can prevent us from going all the way. As far as PARAGUAY is concerned, FRANCE should be careful because it’s a tricky match.”

Sunday OLISEH (15):

“PARAGUAY are a good team but they aren’t strong. On our side, the substitutes had to play. For me, every minute of the World Cup counts. In the last sixteen I’ll be up against Mickael LAUDRUP (DENMARK, 10), who was my team-mate from Ajax (Amsterdam), and DENMARK (Group C) who are a good team. But in the World Cup, no match is easy.”

Victor IKPEBA (20):

“It is difficult to follow a game from the bench, and all the more when your team is losing. Anyway, the most important thing is not to come up against France (Group C) in the last sixteen. That’d be difficult considering how I’ve seen the French play, and especially my team-mates from AS Monaco.”

UCHE (5),

suspended during the game against PARAGUAY

“I’m really looking forward to the game against DENMARK (Group C), because I’ll be back in the team. Tonight PARAGUAY won. We couldn’t do anything for SPAIN. We just did our best.”