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Nigeria midfielder, John Obi Mikel, is relishing his maiden World Cup appearance and he wants to make an impact with the Super Eagles starting with the first group game against Iran.
Mikel, 27, missed out on the 2010 World Cup because of injury and after staring at last year's Confederations Cup, he can't wait to get into action and help Nigeria win their first game at the World Cup since 1998.
"This is my first World Cup," Mikel said after a training session in Campinas to Fifa.com. "I want to make sure we achieve something coming here. We don't just want to come and make up the numbers, we want to do well."
"I have to make sure I lead by example. We are all driving in the same direction. We all know what we want and hopefully we will have a good tournament."
Just like Nigeria did in their debut at the tournament in 1994, the Super Eagles go into Brazil 2014 as African champions, hoping to improve on their outing 20 years ago in the USA, where they were knocked out by Italy in the second round.
The Chelsea midfielder feels the time is right for the Eagles to prove themselves and they are not just in Brazil to make up the numbers.
"We know we're the African champions and people expect us to do well, to represent the African continent. That's a bit more extra pressure but it's pressure that we love. We love to be African champions.
"We're doing well, we're doing everything we can. We're preparing well. The result in Spain against the Netherlands (5-1 victory for the Dutch) shows anything is possible so we have to make sure we approach games seriously and play well," he added.
Nigeria will square up against Iran at the Arena de Baixada in Curitiba for their first Group F game on June 16.
The Super Eagles also have South American giants, Argentina and debutants Bosnia-Herzegovina to contend with in Group F.
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