‘I strongly believe we’ll beat Lions of Cameroon’
Super Eagles Technical Adviser Gernot Rohr was in Kano for the CHAN Eagles camp ahead of tomorrow’s qualifier against Benin Republic and SHOT! caught up with the German tactician who spoke on the team’s chances of qualifying for Kenya 2018 and Super Eagle
Coach you have been in Kano observing the Chan eagles for a while, what’s your assessment of the group so far? Well I have seen some very promising players and overall I strongly feel the group is on the right path and has what it takes to go far. The handlers of the team are doing a good job and the players I believe are also giving their best, which is always a good combination for success. So far I can say they are doing exactly what is expected of them.
We just finished watching the game between the CHAN team and the Kano Pillars feeder team, what’s your take on the game?
To be honest I saw a very good first half and the second half not so good. The passes and the movement s were better in the first half but overall it was a good game between two good sides. Some of the lapses the coaches must have noticed will be corrected before the travel to Cotonou.
Do you see them overcoming the Benin Republic side who are also not pushovers considering they ousted a formidable Togolese team to reach this stage?
Yes, they can do it. I don’t think there’s any team that is a pushover in football. Every team is good, it’s just that some are better than others while in some other situations luck plays a part. Nigeria has a very good team not only capable of qualifying but also capable of lifting the CHAN trophy itself, so I believe they can overcome any team. However, this is not to make the players become over confident. Like I said there is no team that is a pushover in world football at the moment.
Do you feel some of the CHAN boys have what it takes to make it to Super Eagles?
It’s too early to judge but as you know making it to the Super Eagles is not easy because we have players plying their trade in Europe while some of these players are just starting their career in the domestic league. We’ll continue to look around if we see any player that is good enough we’ll take him. Already captain of the team Ikechukwu Ezenwa is with us and he continues to prove what a quality player he is. We won’t hesitate to bring into the mainstream Super Eagles any player that distinguishes himself in this team. I have seen players with potentials.
Now on Super Eagles qualification for Russia, do you think the two games against Cameron will decide your fate as far as the Nigeria job is concerned?
To start with, we are not going into those two games with a loser mentality. We strongly believe we’ll win, that is our belief, so I’m not thinking about my fate at this time. The mission is only to win our remaining matches and qualify Nigeria to the FIFA World Cup Russia.
How vital was the last win against
Our last gathering against the Algerians was good and hopefully more wins will come our way which will set us up on our way to Russia
Algeria in Uyo considering how good the Algerians were expected to be?
Very important because Algeria is a good team and we showed how good we are. So our last gathering against the Algerians was good and hopefully more wins will come our way which will set us up on our way to Russia. We still have important fixtures ahead of us but we would continue to work hard and also concentrate on the qualifiers.
Coach there are allegations that there are some players that got invited to the Super Eagles not on merit but because they have godfathers or agents with deep pockets how will you react to this?
No comment. Thank you.
It’s too early to judge but as you know making it to the Super Eagles is not easy because we have players plying their trade in Europe while some of these players are just starting their career in the domestic league