WORLD CUP 2014: Eagles to Play in Chilly Conditions.

Though Nigeria was last Friday handed the’ luck of the draw’  in Bahia, the Super Eagles will not  particularly find it easy as they will play two of their World Cup matches in Brazil in freezing temperatures.

The World Cup will be played in June- July next year, a time when most parts of southern Brazil will be experiencing biting winter.

It is this reality that has informed Nigerian officials to ponder the idea of having a team camp either Colombia or USA where similar conditions exist.

Nigeria will play two of its Group F matches in Port Alegre and high altitude Curitiba in conditions that can drop to subzero and even be snowy.

Two types of conditions will be prevalent in the northern and southern halves of Brazil during the World Cup year.

The giant-sized South American country which is about nine times the size of Nigeria is dissected by Tropic of Capricorn in the south and marked by Equator in the northern wing.
Nigeria will play its first World Cup match against Iran on June 16 at the Arena da Baixada, Curitiba.
Curitiba, which lies in the Southern Hemisphere, is located on a plateau and is regarded as one of the coldest cities in the whole of Brazil.

Its temperature can fall to as low as 3 °celcius in its coldest month.

Five days later, the African champions will travel to Cuiaba close to the Bolivian border, for the historic meeting with World Cup debutantes, Bosnia Hezergovina.
The fixture will be played at the Arena Pantanal at 8pm Nigerian time with the conditions expected to be warm and suitable for the Super Eagles.

Cuiaba is in the geographical central of the country and is one of the hottest parts of Brazil where the day time temperature can range between 36- 40 degree celcius.
However, the real test for Nigeria will be when they meet their perennial nemesis, Argentina at the Estadio Beria Rio in Porto Alegre on June 25.

Porto Alegre, which is close to Uruguay, is in the  southern most part of the 12 World Cup venues.

The fact that it is the coldest will present an advantage to Argentina which is located in the southern most geographical tip of South American continent.

Meanwhile, the Director General of National Sports Commission (NSC), Honourable Gbenga Elegbeleye has warned Eagles team not to treat Iran, Bosnia Herzegovina and Argentina with kid gloves.

The sports administrator disclosed at the weekend that in as much as he was happy with the draws, Eagles must not under-rate any opponent in the group.

He charged Keshi and the officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to commence preparation in earnest for the World Cup so as to ensure they win the maximum six points before they eventually meet the group favourite, Argentina in the last group match.

“The fact is that we have to be careful of those so called smaller countries because they fought hard to qualify for the World Cup. So, Stephen Keshi and the NFF officials must be very careful and prepare well.

“The good thing is that the Super Eagles would be meeting the group and World Cup favourite in the last match and hopefully by then they would have gathered the maximum six points from the first two matches, which will then make them approach the match with less pressure and more confident,”  Elegbeleye predicted.

EAGLES’ GROUP GAMES
June 16, 2014: v Iran (Curitiba)
June 21, 2014: v Bosnia-Herzegovina (Cuiaba)
June 25, 2014: v Argentina (Porto Alegre)