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Joe Apu
Nigerian forward with the NBA Al-Farouq Aminu of the Portland Trailblazers has admitted that D’ Tigers opponents in Group B would not be taken for granted at the World Cup finals in China.
Aminu, who spoke to fibabasketball.com noted that no team should be seen as a minor stressing that Nigeria will take all games as a final.
Despite Nigeria having not been able to beat Argentina in four different meetings, Aminu believes something different will happen in Wuhan’s Group D, which consists of Argentina, Russia and Korea.
“The first three games of the First Round are going to be our first Finals,” Aminu admitted.
“I am really excited for the start of the competition and we are going to start against a very good team of Russia. They have some very good players, with guys such as Timofey Mozgov and all their players that are part of some of the best European teams. We will have to be ready and focused from the beginning of the competition, and we won’t have any room for mistakes.”
Assessing Nigeria’s most familiar opponent in the group, Aminu described Argentina as a very experienced team. “They play with a lot of intensity. We will have to bring our A game against them,” he said.
Trying to stay unbeaten against Korea – since the 1998 Worlds – will require extra team effort, especially because, “[Korea] are going to play close from home, so we can expect a lot of fans coming from Korea to cheer and support them,” the Portland Trail Blazers forward insisted, adding: “The group is very open and every team has a chance to make it to the Next Round. It’s going to be a tough battle, but we will be ready.”
Aminu has become one of Nigeria’s flag bearers in recent years. As a key member of Nigeria’s FIBA AfroBasket 2015 squad, the 28-year-old forward sat out the 2016 Rio Olympics, but he hopes to make his World Cup debut in style.
