Russia coach rates Eagles highly

Russia coach Valery Karpin has rated Nigeria among the strongest opponents his side will face during the upcoming international window.

Karpin made the assessment while speaking to the Russian Football Union after naming his squad for the upcoming friendlies against Iran, Nigeria and Namibia.

“Two worthy, strong opponents – Iran and Nigeria. Just look at the FIFA rankings. These teams are among the top 30. There’s no need to talk about them much – we’ve all seen them,” Karpin said.

The Russian coach said his side were keen to test themselves against Nigeria and Iran, who both rank higher than Russia in the FIFA rankings.

“This will be our third game against Iran in a while, and our second against Nigeria. The level of these teams is clear. We’re interested to see how we compare against such opponents,” he added.

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Nigeria and Russia will renew their rivalry on October 6 at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, 16 months after their first meeting ended in a 1-1 draw in Moscow.

Tolu Arokodare scored Nigeria’s equaliser in that encounter after Semi Ajayi put the ball into his own net.

The Super Eagles will face Russia after their first two games of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign against Madagascar on Friday, September 25 and Guinea Bissau on Tuesday, September 29.

Karpin also acknowledged that Namibia would provide a different challenge but warned his players against underestimating them.

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