Super Eagles of Nigeria and Nantes of France defender Chidozie Awaziem has given his view on who is harder to stop between PSG celebrated duo of Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.
Awaziem has faced the duo this season, and on both occasion he was required to stop them from making incursion into the box of his team. A task he accomplished with distinction despite his team losing on both occasions.
The on loan FC Porto defender who is currently out injured told Owngoalnigeria.com in an exclusive chat about the difficulty he encountered while trying to stop the duo.
He reckoned keeping Mbappe quiet was far more difficult for him than trying to stop his PSG teammate Neymar during games against the duo.
” It was a nice learning curve playing against the duo. For every player that is the type of test you look forward to and even though I got praises for my performance against Mbappe and Neymar, I felt disappointed that we didn’t win”, Awaziem told Owngoalnigeria.com.
” Stopping Mbappe was way more difficult for me because he comes at you with speed, strength and skills. You don’t know which way he will use against you. As a defender you expect to know a thing about who you are up against.
” Neymar is full of tricks, although he is quick, pace is not usually what he uses , and despite his body strength, he relies more on skills. So I prefer playing against him than Mbappe”, he concluded.
The Nigeria international has progressed nicely at Nantes since joining them on loan from Porto at the start of the season, and his fine form has lead to talks about a possible permanent switch to the French side.
However Porto are yet to give Nantes the go ahead to make his deal permanent despite giving Nantes the option of buying him permanently after his loan, although a fee still has to be agreed between both parties.
His Nigerian Intermediary Babawo Mohammed told Owngoalnigeria.com in an interview that both clubs are still some figures away in their valuation of the 21 year old defender, who is sure to represent Nigeria at the World Cup.
Osas Mahawi
