West and Nigeria are already out (Allsport).
EAGLES WILL MAKE IT TOUGH
By Jason Hughes, PA International, Kobe
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Nigeria coach Festus Onigbinde has warned England not to expect an easy ride
in their final group clash, even though the Super Eagles are already out of the
the World Cup.
Sven-Goran Eriksson's men still need a point to guarantee their place in the
last 16 following Friday's revenge victory over Argentina.
And although Nigerian dreams were ended by their 2-1 defeat to Sweden earlier
in the day, Onigbinde has promised his side will battle to the very end against
England in Osaka on Wednesday.
"I don't believe in negative football," said the former schoolteacher. "We
will still come out strong against England and we will be at full strength.
"It will be a major disappointment if we fail to perform fully in any of our
matches.
"You have to remember this is a World Cup and it would be irresponsible for
us to do anything else and we will not do it."
Nigeria, who lost their opening game 1-0 to Argentina, seemed to be back on
track after Julius Aghahowa gave them a first-half lead against the Swedes in
Kobe.
Henrik Larsson levelled eight minutes later though and the Celtic striker then
struck the winner from the penalty spot in the 62nd minute.
Onigbinde was adamant 24 hours earlier that his side could even go on to win
the World Cup and although his prediction proved way off target, he believes
they may reach their peak in the tournament with the pressure off.
"One gets to a level where your results are very important but when you think
less about results you think more about the game and how to play it," he said.
"We came here with the intention of getting to the final, although it was not
to be we have one game to play and we have our honour to defend."
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