- Mikel predicts World Cup glory for England after defeat at Wembley
- The Super Eagles narrowly lost by 2-1 to Gareth Southgate's side
- The ex-Chelsea midfielder says Nigeria need to improve in key areas
Super Eagles John Mikel Obi has showered praises on Gareth Southgate's team as potential World Cup winners after the 2-1 loss at Wembley.
Goals from Gary Cahill and captain Harry Kane were enough to begin preparations for the World Cup with a win.
Arsenal's Alex Iwobi pulled one back for Nigeria who are also World Cup-bound, but the Three Lions did enough to secure the victory.
The ex-Chelsea midfielder played the whole 90 minutes and was impressed by what he saw from the young England side.
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"I think they have a very good chance of going all the way because the youthfulness and energy in this team... you can feel it,' he said.
"I think the pace in the team, you can feel it, and that is why we had some problems in the first half.
"In the second half we corrected some mistakes and played a lot better. I think the England team have a good chance."
Gernot Rohr's side were completely outplayed by England in the first half but reacted after the interval as they aim to go further than the round of 16 that they reached in Brazil four years ago.
The three-time African champions are in Group D alongside Argentina -who they beat 4-2 last November with Iceland and Croatia.
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The Tianjin TEDA playmaker is keen for the squad to develop together as they head to Russia.
"We are a very young team and we have to learn, it is good for this young team to have a taste of what we are going to face in Russia," he added.
"We have to learn together as a team, we have to improve and that is why we played this game against such a quality side so we can know where we are and now we go back to training and try and improve."
Rohr had earlier named his final 23-man squad that will represent Nigeria and the World cup in less than two weeks time.
Mikel Agu and Ola Aina were the last two players that were dropped from the team as the team head to Austria for their last friendly game against the Czech Republic.
Meanwhile NAIJ.com had earlier reported Mikel disclosed the Green and White men lost to England was because they made the game difficult.
The former Lyn Oslo man said Southagte played with five defenders which made it hard for the Nigerian side to penetrate in the first half.
Super Eagles Score 1:1 with DR Congo Team Simba in Port Harcout - on Naij.com TV
Source: Naija.ng