Nigeria head coach Gernot Rohr has said that he has no plans to select any new players for his squad for the start of 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers later this year.
The Super Eagles recently wrapped up a successful CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying campaign with a comfortable 3-0 home win over Lesotho thanks to goals from Victor Osimhen, Oghenekaro Etebo and Genk striker Paul Onuachu.
The next goal for the West African heavyweights is qualifying for next year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar, as they prepare to kick off their Group C campaign that features Cape Verde, Central African Republic and Liberia.
It does not seem likely that the Super Eagles team is going to be any different than we have seen in the last 2 games of the AFCON qualifiers, subject to any injuries. Rohr insists that he will stick with the tried and tested for now with no guarantee on changes being made to a very talented side.
Nigeria Head Coach Gernot Rohr (Photo by Visionhaus)
“The World Cup qualifiers will start soon and I think we will be able to do well, and we should expect good football again on a good pitch,” Rohr said.
“We can’t try new players now, it is too late and it is getting more serious because it is [the] World Cup qualifiers.”
He added, “The AFCON qualifiers are over and we need to get the same result in the World Cup qualifiers. We need to continue doing our job. We thank Nigerians for their support.
“The record of our results is very good and I know we are unbeaten in all our away games in the qualifiers. It is a nice one and we have to continue to always be the best but sometimes we cannot always win all matches.”
Enyimba’s Anayo Iwuala was the only fresh face who had playing time in the recent AFCON qualifiers.
Local players John Noble and Adeleke Adekunle were unused members of the squad despite being key members for their clubs, while veteran Ahmed Musa – who has not played a competitive match in several months – was a substitute against Lesotho.
The Nigeria head coach Rohr defended his decision of selecting Musa, who is currently a free agent once again saying, “He has good fitness and there was no reason not to allow him to come on to play for the team. He is the captain of the team and we want to help him find a good club now.”
Nigeria have a lot of firepower up front and with the combination of Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi working extremely well in the English Premier League for Leicester City, you can expect the two of them to be a threatening duo in the African FIFA World Cup qualifiers too.
