New signing at Stoke City of England, Oghenekaro Etebo has gone the way of an old school American rap song – Keep Your Heads Up – as he says he and his colleagues in the Super Eagles are staying upbeat in their hopes of reaching the round of 16 at the ongoing World Cup in Russia.
Rather than be disillusioned by Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Croatia in their opening group match, Etebo says the Eagles are keeping their heads up and believe their chances in Russia are still very bright.
Turning those words into reality would largely depend on getting victory against Iceland on Friday, but the former Warri Wolves, CD Feirense and Las Palmas star said that is exactly what the Eagles aim to achieve.
Two qualification tickets to the next round are still up for grabs and Nigeria can be one of the two teams if they beat Iceland and Argentina in their last two fixtures in Group D.
The Eagles have won only two of their last five match day two fixtures at the World Cup, beating Bulgaria and Bosnia 1-0 in 1998 and 2014 respectively.
However, Etebo, who led the way with statistics in dribbles, fouls won, touches on the ball and passing accuracy, said the Eagles will do better in Volgograd on Friday than they did in Kaliningrad last weekend.
He said: ”We lost but it is still bright out there. It’s up to us to keep our heads up and stay very focused for the next game and work on what we have to do to qualify.”
