Cabaye: No room for France arrogance

Yohan Cabaye knows France could come unstuck if they are guilty of arrogance in Monday’s FIFA World Cup last-16 clash against Nigeria.

Didier Deschamps’ side needed a dramatic fightback to beat Ukraine in a play-off in order to secure their place in the finals in Brazil.

Les Bleus breezed into the last 16 as Group E winners in impressive fashion and are brimming with confidence ahead of their showdown against African champions Nigeria.

However, while Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Cabaye has taken great heart from their performances in the tournament so far, he reacted to talk of France being potential World Cup winners with caution.

“We have come a long way considering we almost didn’t make it to Brazil, so we should not get ahead of ourselves,” Cabaye told FIFA.com

“The fact we showed our quality in the group stage obviously should make us more confident but not arrogant, otherwise we are going to have major problems.

“We are bidding to progress on Monday and go as far as possible but we must do that with the same mentality, determination and quality we have shown so far.

“We are going to play a very good team and if we lose we must accept that. There is little use in putting extra pressure on ourselves and adding weight on our expectations.

“It is good to be ambitious but winning the World Cup is not easy as one can see by the good teams that have already been eliminated. I respect Nigeria, though we can beat them, but to say we are going to win the World Cup one has to be careful. There is still a long way to go.”

Former Newcastle United midfielder Cabaye comes back into contention to face Nigeria after serving a one-match ban.