- Trabzonspor midfielder Ogenyi Onazi has admitted that he played poorly against England at the Wembley Stadium
- He made Gernot Rohr's 23 man list for this summer's championship in Russia
- Meanwhile, he has vowed to rectify all the mistakes he made before the tournament starts mid June
Super Eagles midfielder Ogenyi Onazi has taken responsibility for his poor contribution towards his side’s 2-1 defeat to England at the Wembley Stadium on Saturday, June 2nd.
Two first half goals from Gary Cahill and Harry Kane ensured the Three Lions beat Nigeria for the second time in their last three meetings.
The Trabzonspor midfielder admits that he was woeful during the first half of the game, insisting that he will surely work on those lapses going into the World Cup.
This defeat is the second straight defeat for Gernot Rohr’s men in the build up to their 2018 World Cup campaign in Russia after losing 2-0 to Serbia at the Hive Stadium in London.
READ ALSO: Super Eagles coach Rohr names his 23-man squad for Russia 2018 World Cup
However, the former Lazio man claims the team will come out stronger when the championship kicks off later this month as they battle Croatia in their first Group D game on June 16.
Reacting to the defeat, Onazi admitted that the defeat especially his display on the pitch was ‘disappointing’ and would not that to repeat itself in the coming games.
"Saturday was a really disappointing game for us, especially for me in the first half. But this is part of life, this part of football. You just need to learn from your mistakes and then you move on," he said.
"It didn't go well for me yesterday. It was really not a good game. It was not me. But this is the game. Sometimes you play good, sometimes you don't. You just look forward to making a good outing in the next game.
"Thank God this is preparation. When we get to the World Cup proper, things are going to get better."
Onazi continued: "I have to get better. That wasn't me yesterday. I don't really want to think about the game too much.
"The problem we had yesterday was the formation, it was not going really right. I did a lot of running on the pitch because we were always one man short on the defensive part of the game.
"The second half was much better because we played the same pattern with them and everybody was with his man."
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Meanwhile, Nigeria technical adviser Gernot Rohr told the media after the match that his team needs more work to be ready for the World Cup, something Onazi agrees with.
"We have a lot of things to do. We have a lot to put in place. We haven't really had time to train really well, to really work on our system. Because we have one system," the Trabzonspor midfielder continued.
"Now, we are trying to play other systems and I think we are going to get much better."
Nigeria departed for Austria on Sunday morning for the final phase of their pre-World Cup training camp.
They will play the Czech Republic in a friendly on June 6 before heading off to Russia on June 11 where they will face Croatia, Iceland and Argentina in the Group phase.
NAIJ.com earlier reported that the Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has released his 23-man list for the 2018 World Cup.
After losing 2-1 to England in Russia yesterday, the handler dropped Ola Aina and Mikel Agu as Ogenyi Onazi, captain John Obi Mikel and 21 others fly to Austria for the final phase of their preparations for the tourney.
Also making the shortlist are Leicester City trio of Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho and Ahmed Musa.
Super Eagles Score 1:1 with DR Congo Team Simba in Port Harcourt - on NAIJ.com TV
Source: Naija.ng