Super Eagles captain, John Mikel Obi says that the team lost to Croatia in their first Group D match at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Saturday because the team defended too deep to the advantage of the opponents.
If we didn’t concede the goal through a set-piece we would have been fine. It’s difficult to defend quite deep,” Mikel told journalists after match at the Kaliningrad Stadium.
“If you get the ball you should move closer to the opponents’ goal. It’s something we have to discuss together as a team and see what we can do about it.
“There is no denying the fact that we have to play better. We lost the game today, it has happened. Now we have to do better.
“We appreciate our supporters who travelled the long distance to come here and support the team. We will fight harder in the next to games, and I am optimistic that we still have chance of qualifying from the group. But we must double our hard work, this is very important. Our supporters here and back home should keep supporting us.”
