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"We played against a very good team from Iceland" - Nigeria's coach

KUWAIT, June 22 (KUNA) -- Team managers could not have asked more of their players after a tough match today between Nigeria and Iceland, with the halftime turning the game around unexpectedly.
Iceland's manager Heimir Hallgrimsson started off in the press conference saying, "Nigeria played very well, it was difficult in the fight today, I admit we have played better games than this game today." Hallgrimsson added, "It's a strange fact that we are still in the race. We didn't think we would go through this World Cup without a loss, and losses are always difficult to swallow. But we only need to beat Croatia, which is possibly easier to say than do." Nigeria's team manager Gernot Rohr pleased with the change of strategy said, "The strategy today you saw, we changed our organisation, we played in 3-5-2, and Victor Moses played in the same position he played in Chelsea before. In the second half, we had more space, and the speed of Ahmed Musa for example for us was very interesting." Gernot added, "In the second half it was a different team, they realised in halftime we needed to do much more, we played against a very good team from Iceland." Answering a question about his team and the next match against Argentina, Gernot said, "What I like in my young team is humility, solidarity and fighting spirit. I thought before this World Cup we were here to learn. I think this team will be ready in 2022 and this World Cup is coming early, but we have a good chance to win against Argentina." Group D's final standing will be a tough one to predict, with Nigeria secured with three points for now, while Iceland and Argentina still have one more game to prove themselves, as Croatia is already qualified after last night's victory. (pickup previous) aq