Super Eagles Head Coach, Sunday Oliseh is happy with results of the 2018 World Cup preliminary draw held in St. Petersburg, Russia on Saturday.
Drawn bye from the first round of the African qualifiers, Nigeria begins her campaign for a place at the 2018 finals in Russia in November away to the winner of the Djibouti vs. Swaziland first round playoff.
While appealing for caution, the Super Eagles handler told thenff.com that there are a number of reasons for him to be happy.
“Of course, I am happy with the draw,” Oliseh stated.
“We are not playing the first round, which is a preliminary round and which we knew before the draw. We will also be playing the first leg of the second round away which means we have an advantage of playing the more crucial return leg at home, in front of our fans”.
The coach also warned against complacency, revealing that there are lots of dangerous teams around that could hurt if taken for granted.
“Djibouti and Swaziland need to be given the respect that they deserve and either of them that we face in the second round will not be underrated. We respect every nation and will battle anyone that emerges with our full strength.
“With the draw now concluded, we can safely say that the race to Russia has officially started. I am optimistic we will run this race very well, we will give it our very best and pray it will be good enough to get us one of the five slots available for Africa,” Oliseh concluded.
