Norwegian Media Hails Eagles Stars : Ekong The Boss, Ighalo Fantastic Player, Mikel Experienced

Published: June 14, 2018

The largest commercial television broadcaster in Norway, TV 2, has previewed Group D of the World Cup, which contains Nigeria, Argentina, Croatia and Iceland, ahead of the opening matches on Saturday, June 16.

Three important Super Eagles players set to start against Croatia in the shape of Odion Ighalo, John Obi Mikel and William Troost-Ekong represented Norwegian Premier League clubs before moving onto pastures new.

On Mikel, TV 2's Kristian Arnesen Strømshoved wrote : ''The man with the most national team games is former Lyn player John Obi Mikel (31) with 84.''

Respected commentator Stamsø-Møller thinks Troost-Ekong will be a key player for the Super Eagles, saying : ''
They have a midfielder who is the boss, who has played in Norwegian football, William Troost-Ekong (24)''.

Former IK Start defender Jesper Mathisen added : ''He was on loan to Haugesund and got the captain's band soon, even though he was only six months old on loan.''

On Odion Ighalo, Stamsø-Møller said, ''This is Nigeria's forgotten joker, because you are forgotten if you choose to travel to China to play football'', and øyvind Alsaker added that he's a fantastic player.

Norway, who are managed by ex-Super Eagles coach Lars Lagerbäck, failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup after finishing fourth in Group C of the European qualifiers for the tournament.

Igho Kingsley