Dimeji to Nigerians: Accept Eagles results in good fate

Former international Oladimeji  Lawal , has declared that it won’t be a tea party for the Super Eagles when they face Iceland on Friday, even as he advised Nigerians to accept whatever the team is able to achieve in Russia in good fate.

He noted that the World Cup is not an experimental platform and that no nation gets more than it has invested in the Mundial.

Preparation for the world cup according to him is a cumulative effort over the years devoid of ad hoc approach.

 Dimeji who was baring his mind ahead of Friday's make or break encounter further said  that the nation's expectations are often higher than level of input.

"The world cup is not a platform for experiment.  We put in so little and expect so much" he said

On the 2-0 loss to Croatia in the opener, the former K.V. Kortrijk of Belgium midfielder noted that the strikers lacked cohesion and made no attempts on goal.  He did not however leave the blame on the laps of the players alone but frowned at the idea of drafting the players to play roles different from their traditional roles in their clubs.

"Players are invited to the national team based on their performance and the role they play in their clubs, “You cannot change that overnight and expect instant positive result," he submitted

The former Shooting stars ace nicknamed 'Kabongo' in his days in the national team, noted that lack of developmental plans in a country of over 180million people is a major drawback which affects the discovery and nurture of play makers.  He cautioned against heaping so much blame on the players insisting that they are doing the best under prevailing circumstance.

"The team's performance is just a reflection of the state of affairs in the country and you don't expect magic from a system with so many shortcomings," he added.

Iceland a country with a population of about 330,000 people are making appearance at the world cup for the first time, and ranked 22nd on the FIFA log.

Iceland national team nicknamed Strákarnir okkar (Our Boys) began their campaign in Russia on a bright note holding Argentina to a 1-1 draw and will be hoping to consolidate when they face Eagles on Friday.