Nigerian defensive midfielder John Obi Mikel believes that they need to raise their game if they want to reach the next round.
According to Mikel Obi who received the Man of the Match award, they will likely need wins against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Argentina in their final two games, though victory against the former will give them an excellent chance of making Last 16.
"Naturally we’re disappointed because we know what it means to win your opening match at the World Cup," Mikel said. "We thought we had a good chance of winning. We created some openings in the first half and I think we deserved to score. Iran kept us at bay, though, and they were well organised at the back.
"We need to raise our game if we want to reach the next round. We prepared very well for this World Cup and we can’t afford to drop another point in our remaining games," he said.
John Obi Mikel and Stephen Keshi
Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi stated that the team played very well in the first half. "The forwards were very active and they had a couple of chances to score, though we couldn’t put them away. We lost our shape in the second half," he continued.
"I felt we could have won the game but we were lacking a bit of inspiration on the pitch. All credit to Iran. They stuck to their game-plan and were able to put it into practice from start to finish."
Next up for the Super Eagles is a meeting with Bosnia-Herzegovina in Cuiabá on Saturday where a win would likely oust their opponents from the competition and put one Nigerian foot in the second round.
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