Super Eagles arrive at their Russian World Cup base of Yessentuki in preparation for Saturday's opener

NIGERIA'S Super Eagles have landed at their Yessentuki camp in Russia in grand style sporting green and white native attires as they prepare to prosecute the 2018 World Cup which opens on Thursday.

Last night, at around 11pm, the Eagles flew into Yessentuki, the cultural capital of Russia's Greek population, which will serve as their main camp during the tournament. Flying in from Vienna, the team arrived later than scheduled due to some technical difficulties but caught the eye of everyone as they chose to be different from the other 31 teams who were mostly dressed in suits on arrival.

Later today the team will begin training as it prepares for Saturday's opener against Croatia taking place at the Kaliningrad Stadium. Nigeria is playing in Group D tagged the group of  death as it also contains Argentina and Iceland.

Head coach Gernot Rohr has assured Nigerian football fans of a good show from the Eagles at the Kaliningrad Arena on Saturday. He has already made a few changes to the team in response to recent loses in friendly matches, ditching zonal marking and giving John Ogu and Mikel special roles when defending set pieces.

Mr Rohr said: “We will take it one match at a time. I love this group because we know how to rise to the occasion together. Nigeria will be ready for Croatia.”

When the team trains today, Ogu who has been converted to a defender when the Eagles play with a back three has been mandated to pick the tallest man in the team of the opposition while Mikel will defend the first pole. Under the new arrangement, Mikel will be the first line of defence with Ogu behind him while the central defence duo of William Ekong and Leon Balogun will concentrate on winning the second balls.