Lloris: Nigeria are a great team

Hugo Lloris is not underestimating Nigeria ahead of Monday’s last-16 fixture, with the France captain bracing himself for a tough match.

Didier Deschamps’ men are strong favourites to progress to the quarter-finals at the FIFA World Cup when they face Nigeria at the Estadio Nacional de Brasilia.

France scored eight goals as they topped Group E, while Nigeria defied the odds to scrape through to the knockout phase after upstaging Bosnia-Herzegovina and drawing with Iran in Group F.

Lloris is expecting a tough test and joined in the chorus of praise for Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, who has been in excellent form in Brazil.

“I’m not too surprised by his performance,” Lloris said. “He had a great season with Lille.

“He is decisive for his country. But we look our opponent as a group, not individually.

“He is part of some individuality in this great team but above all they are a great team. Collectively, they have made beautiful things.

“We expect a very difficult game but we will do our best to try to get through this round.”

Meanwhile, coach Deschamps believes Nigeria could have an advantage due to the heat – with the game scheduled to kick off at 13:00 local time (16:00 GMT)

“This is a somewhat unusual schedule,” he said.

“The proceedings of the day is totally different. At that time, the heat is present.

“Nigerians are certainly more familiar than we withstand high temperatures, although there are many who play in Europe too.”