Nigerian Super Eagles Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr has said that he was not sure if Nigeria would feature in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Rohr, who will lead the Eagles to face Zambia on October 7, however, stated that his team would come out fully when they faced the Chipolopolo in Uyo, knowing that a victory would land Nigeria at the Mundial after bagging 10 points from their previous four matches.
The technical adviser, who was a guest at Channels Television “Sports Tonight”, explained that the match against Zambia was going to be very exciting, “because they are a very young team, and they play exciting football. So it will be difficult playing against them.”
“We only need to repeat what we did against Cameroon in Uyo, and we are in Russia. I am not sure (because you cannot be sure of anything in life), but I believe that we can do it. Everybody remembers our first game against them in Ndola, where we emerged winners. And judging by the way we have played our last two matches against Cameroon, I believe we have all in our hands now, and we will utilise our chance to be in Russia.”
Rohr, responding to questions about the current style of play by the Super Eagles, said: “We play the 4-3-3 formation; sometimes we switch to 4-4-2 because we have two real wingers. We have Mikel Obi, who is playing offensively now; we also have Ighalo, and the wingers come from behind too. So, what we try to do is to be flexible. If you play only one system, everybody knows how you play.”
Rohr further spoke about the current video making the rounds that suggested that striker Victor Moses deliberately snubbed President of the Nigeria Football Federal, Amaju Pinnick, who offered a handshake, suggesting that all was not well between the two of them. Rohr described this as “fake news”.
He said: “Victor Moses did not see the hand of the President. We arrived at the dressing room, focused on the game, and that was what he had his mind on.
“Nobody has any problem with the President. He is our first supporter, there are pictures of the two of them in London having nice time together. There is no problem between the two of them.”
Rohr said that former captain Vincent Enyeama still had a chance to play for the Super Eagles, when he recovered from his injury. He stated that he had no problems with the goalkeeper. “I hope that he will come back soon. I head a team that is in harmony, and it is not a team where anybody can give conditions before he plays for us, because I cannot accept that. Everybody should accept the decisions of the technical adviser.