World Cup 2018: Nigeria loses to Croatia 2-0, but Nigerian fans remain hopeful

<p>Nigerian fans say the winning spirit was missing and it is a lesson for Nigeria ahead of their two remaining games in their World Cup group, following their team 2-0 loss to Croatia in Kaliningrad on Saturday.</p> <p>Croatia beat Nigeria on Saturday with an own goal from Oghenekaro Etebo and a penalty from Luka Modric to go top of Group D, one of the toughest and most unpredictable in the tournament.</p> <p>“There’s one positive from today, the biggest winner is football”, a Nigerian fan said.</p> <p>Another fan thinks ‘‘it is a lesson and the winning spirit wasn’t there, sadly. It puts us in a very tough situation now. The next two matches is going to be pretty difficult. Fingers crossed. Never say never.”</p> <p>While dominating for long periods, Croatia struggled to penetrate the Nigerian defence and failed repeatedly to find the target with speculative shots from well outside the penalty area.</p> <p>“Excellent. I think we played a tactical game to win; we didn’t play game to destroy Nigeria, we just played tactical game. We changed the players, we had a few changes, but the aim is just to go to the next round and to win the championship”, a Croatian fan said.</p> <p>Afterwards, outside the Kaliningrad Stadium Croatia fans were jubilant – singing and dancing – as the result puts them in pole position after Argentina were unexpectedly held to a 1-1 draw by Iceland.</p> <p>Nigeria will face Iceland next in Volgograd, while Croatia take on Argentina.</p> <p><strong>Reuters</strong></p>

It is a lesson and the winning spirit wasn't there, sadly. It puts us in a very tough situation now. The next two matches is going to be pretty difficult. Fingers crossed. Never say never!