Former Nigeria coach Adegboyega Onigbinde believes the Super Eagles showed more hunger for the ball which helped them secure a 2-0 win over Iceland in Volgograd on Friday.
Gernot Rohr’s men started their World Cup campaign with an uninspiring loss to Croatia in Kaliningrad last Saturday, which attracted huge media backlash.
After Ahmed Musa’s second half brace gave them a potential lifeline to reach the knockout phase at the Volgograd Arena, the ex-national team gaffer feels their display was worth the result.
"Well, I think every patriotic Nigerians should be happy that we won the match against Iceland," Onigbinde told Goal.
"In terms of performance, we performed much better and probably that was why we won. Even in real life situation, it is not all the time you perform well that you get good result.
"But we must thank God that we had the two against Iceland - we performed well and won. What we (Nigeria) did differently from the first match against Croatia was that we did not leave the ball for the opponents to play and we were not slow.
"Our boys were ball hungry and they contested almost all the ball and that gave us the result we had against Iceland (in Volgograd)."
Despite the win, Onigbinde further discloses that there are need for improvement in the team ahead of Tuesday’s all-important tie with Argentina.
"We have several aspects of football fitness we must take care of. Like in the area of speed, strength and many others,” he continued.
“I am the type who is never satisfied with any level of achievement. So, we have to continue improving."
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