Eagles defender, Danny Shittu, said that the group B World Cup opener against Argentina on Saturday, will be a hard fought one.

Eagles

Shittu who is hoping to start the game submitted that the Eagles defenders are determined to put on a brave show against the dreaded Argentine strikers including world footballer of the year Lionel Messi, whom Shittu is set to mark out.

“We will not leave ourselves too open, because they have got some great players even aside from Messi,” said Shittu
He said that Messi may be a deciding factor in the game, which the Argentine’ coach, Diego Maradona, will be under pressure to win, to fan his ego.

“It doesn’t help that every time you turn on the Spanish football he’s scoring two or three goals.
Messi is probably the best striker in the world at the moment, so of course it will be a huge test for me and the team,” quipped the bulky defender.

Shittu will likely pair Joseph Yobo or Rabiu Afolabi in middle. He said that he is in South Africa to give his best considering the fact that he had limited playing time for Bolton Wanderers, this season.

Shittu will meet his Bolton Wanderers team mate Chung-Yong Lee, of South Korea, in the group B pairings.
“I told Chungy on the last day of training that I was going to come from behind and slide tackle him,” he laughed. “South Korea are a really good team. They did well in the 2002 World Cup and beat the Ivory Coast recently.

“I suppose we would fancy beating Greece, so it would come down to that game to see who qualifies, but we haven’t written off a win against Argentina,” Shittu said.