Victor Moses is targeting a World Cup semi-final spot ahead of Nigeria’s international friendly with Scotland in London on Wednesday.
Moses and his teammates will step up their preparations for Brazil against Gordon Strachan’s improving side at Craven Cottage, the home of Fulham, recently relegated from the Premier League.
And the winger, on the books at nearby Chelsea, is confident Nigeria can make a major impression on next month’s global showpiece.
“I believe we can reach the semi-finals. But togetherness of the team under the coach is key.
“There is always a good vibe among the lads when we come together and we’ll need that at the World Cup.”
Moses has endured a disappointing season on loan at Liverpool where he found himself overlooked for long periods as the Merseysiders finished runners-up in the Premier League behind champions Manchester City, but he believes his frustrations can help fire his World Cup campaign.
“I think playing at the World Cup will be good for a lot of the players, and not just me,” he said.
After the Scotland clash, Nigeria will fly out to the United States where coach Stephen Keshi will decide on his final 23-man squad before international football governing body Fifa’s June 2nd deadline.
Scotland failed to qualify for the finals – they haven’t reached the latter stages of a major tournament since appearing at the 1998 World Cup in France – but their improved performances under Strachan have boosted confidence ahead of next season’s Euro 2016 qualifiers.
Hull striker George Boyd returns to the Scotland squad after a 12-month absence following his decision to pull out of last year’s trip to Croatia because it clashed with his wedding.
“I’ve been on the fringes of things,” said Boyd. “I had a game in Serbia but then got married and had to miss the next squad, which probably killed me a bit.
“My wedding clashed with the June date when Scotland won in Croatia. That was really unfortunate and obviously wasn’t great from a football perspective.
“It was a great performance by the boys in that game and it’s hard to change when the team is winning. So really I’m just happy to be back in.”
He added: “I think we have that winning mentality with Scotland now.
“The past months have been really good in terms of results and performances so hopefully we can take that all the way into the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.”
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SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
TWISTERS
Director:+Lee+Isaac+Chung
Starring:+Glen+Powell,+Daisy+Edgar-Jones,+Anthony+Ramos
Rating:+2.5/5
if you go
The flights
Fly to Rome with Etihad (www.etihad.ae) or Emirates (www.emirates.com) from Dh2,480 return including taxes. The flight takes six hours. Fly from Rome to Trapani with Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) from Dh420 return including taxes. The flight takes one hour 10 minutes.
The hotels
The author recommends the following hotels for this itinerary. In Trapani, Ai Lumi (www.ailumi.it); in Marsala, Viacolvento (www.viacolventomarsala.it); and in Marsala Del Vallo, the Meliaresort Dimore Storiche (www.meliaresort.it).
'Dark Waters'
Directed by: Todd Haynes
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, William Jackson Harper
Rating: ****
Mobile phone packages comparison
Quick facts
- Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL) offers free guided tours of art in the metro and at the stations
- The tours are free of charge; all you need is a valid SL ticket, for which a single journey (valid for 75 minutes) costs 39 Swedish krone ($3.75)
- Travel cards for unlimited journeys are priced at 165 Swedish krone for 24 hours
- Avoid rush hour – between 9.30 am and 4.30 pm – to explore the artwork at leisure
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 285bhp
Torque: 353Nm
Price: TBA
On sale: Q2, 2020
Dubai World Cup Carnival Card:
6.30pm: Handicap US$135,000 (Turf) 1,200m
7.05pm: Handicap $135,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
7.40pm: Zabeel Turf Listed $175,000 (T) 2,000m
8.15pm: Cape Verdi Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,600m
8.50pm: Handicap $135,000 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap $175,000 (T) 1,600m
'The Ice Road'
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Stars: Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne
2/5
MORE ON THE US DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
KEY DATES IN AMAZON'S HISTORY
July 5, 1994: Jeff Bezos founds Cadabra Inc, which would later be renamed to Amazon.com, because his lawyer misheard the name as 'cadaver'. In its earliest days, the bookstore operated out of a rented garage in Bellevue, Washington
July 16, 1995: Amazon formally opens as an online bookseller. Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought becomes the first item sold on Amazon
1997: Amazon goes public at $18 a share, which has grown about 1,000 per cent at present. Its highest closing price was $197.85 on June 27, 2024
1998: Amazon acquires IMDb, its first major acquisition. It also starts selling CDs and DVDs
2000: Amazon Marketplace opens, allowing people to sell items on the website
2002: Amazon forms what would become Amazon Web Services, opening the Amazon.com platform to all developers. The cloud unit would follow in 2006
2003: Amazon turns in an annual profit of $75 million, the first time it ended a year in the black
2005: Amazon Prime is introduced, its first-ever subscription service that offered US customers free two-day shipping for $79 a year
2006: Amazon Unbox is unveiled, the company's video service that would later morph into Amazon Instant Video and, ultimately, Amazon Video
2007: Amazon's first hardware product, the Kindle e-reader, is introduced; the Fire TV and Fire Phone would come in 2014. Grocery service Amazon Fresh is also started
2009: Amazon introduces Amazon Basics, its in-house label for a variety of products
2010: The foundations for Amazon Studios were laid. Its first original streaming content debuted in 2013
2011: The Amazon Appstore for Google's Android is launched. It is still unavailable on Apple's iOS
2014: The Amazon Echo is launched, a speaker that acts as a personal digital assistant powered by Alexa
2017: Amazon acquires Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, its biggest acquisition
2018: Amazon's market cap briefly crosses the $1 trillion mark, making it, at the time, only the third company to achieve that milestone
MATCH DETAILS
Liverpool 2
Wijnaldum (14), Oxlade-Chamberlain (52)
Genk 1
Samatta (40)
Kill
Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
Starring: Lakshya, Tanya Maniktala, Ashish Vidyarthi, Harsh Chhaya, Raghav Juyal
Rating: 4.5/5