Lazio midfielder, Ogenyi Onazi reckons Ethiopia’s Walia Ibex will give the Super Eagles a torrid time when the two sides face off in a second leg World Cup qualifying playoff in Calabar on Saturday.
The Super Eagles won the reverse fixture 2-1 in October and are now heavy favourites to progress to next year’s World Cup finals in Brazil.
Onazi however believes things will be a lot more complicated when the two sides eventually face off on Saturday and insists the Ethiopians showed great hunger for the solitary ticket up for grabs in the first leg in Addis Ababa.
“The Ethiopians did not really surprise me with the way they played (in the first leg) because I have been watching videos of their previous games.
“Our coach (Stephen Keshi) also told us that this Ethiopian team has been together for over five years so we knew we would be in for a difficult game.
“They showed in that first leg that they want to play in the World Cup and they will repeat that kind of performance (on Saturday),” Onazi said.
The 20-year-old then warned his teammates to avoid the pitfall of playing individualistic football which he predicted will spell doom for the African champions.
“If we don’t play as a team (on Saturday), we will lose (the game). The good thing is that one of our strongest points in this team is our unity. We play as a unit and fight for one another as brothers. We must continue to do that. We must not take Ethiopia for granted because they have never been to the World Cup before and they will want to get there.
We must give our all to ensure that it is Nigeria’s flag that will be hoisted at the World Cup and not Ethiopia’s,” he concluded.
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