Ben's raring to go
Nicholas Veevers in Colombia
Tuesday, 09 August, 2011
Chelsea defender Gordon can't wait to meet Nigeria on Wednesday.
After a few days break since their last group encounter, England defender Ben Gordon is raring to go as the Three Lions prepare for Wednesday's FIFA U20 World Cup Round of 16 clash with Nigeria in the Colombian City of Armenia.
Brian Eastick's team last played on Thursday night, drawing 0-0 with Mexico, and then had to wait 48 hours to find out that they'd made it through to the knockout stage where they'll meet free-scoring Group D winners Nigeria.
England have returned to the training pitch since moving on to their new base in Armenia after previous games in Cartagena and Medellin. Now Gordon says he and his team mates are looking forward to getting back out on the pitch against the Nigerians on Wednesday.
"We've had a lot of time after the last game with Mexico, so we've had a bit of rest since then," he told TheFA.com.
"I think we've had five days so we've been back on the training pitch and everyone can't wait to get going.
"We've had a little look at them at the team hotel but we'll go into more detail now as we're two days before the game so we'll start looking at some of their strengths and weaknesses."
England have drawn all three games 0-0 in Colombia, which saw them progress from a strong group into the knockout phase of the World Cup.
Gordon believes, though, that despite not scoring a goal themselves yet, if Eastick's men can keep a fourth clean sheet then they can find the net and win the game.
"I think we've shown that we're hard to break down as no-one has scored against us yet," added Gordon.
"If we can keep a clean sheet against Nigeria and create chances, which we've been working hard on in training, then a goal will come.
"It's the same as every game. We knew that Argentina were a good team and Mexico as well. So we have to show Nigeria a lot of respect as they've scored a lot of goals."
And Gordon has also been impressed with his stay in Colombia and is not ready to return home just yet.
"It's been first class really, all of the training grounds and the people in the streets," he said. "Everyone has been happy and all of the team have enjoyed being here and think it's a brilliant country.
"We just want to stay longer now for the Final."