Super Eagles coach
Gernot Rohr is not a man under pressure. The former Gabon, Niger and Burkina
Faso coach is leading Nigeria to 2019 Nations
cup in Cameroon and from all indications he has no need to have sleepless nights.
Perhaps sleepless nights
can only come, if he fails to qualify the Eagles for the championship which
Nigeria has failed to qualify for on two occasions since lifting the trophy
under late Stephen Keshi in 2013.
The Eagles were conspicuously
missing in the 2015 edition in Equatorial Guinea and the 2017 edition in Gabon.
Prior to the World cup
most Nigerians set what some analyst dubbed their 'private world cup target'
that the Eagles should go beyond the round of 16 which has been the highest
point we have reached and which we have repeated thrice 1994, 1998 and 2014.
Rohr was told to 'do well’
in Russia and was saved the usual "deliver or take a walk “headache for
which coaching has come to be known.
Ahead of the series of qualifiers
leading to the Nations Cup in Cameroon, President of Nigeria football
Federation Amaju Pinnick has declared that the Glass House wants the coach to
make "meaningful Impact" in Cameroon.
The NFF boss says the desire
of the Glass House is not necessarily to win at all cost but to build a
football culture with special emphasis on grooming younger players.
“Our vision, as we have
indicated from day one, is to build a sustainable football culture for our dear
nation. To do that, youth development is key,” said the NFF president.
“That is what we are
trying to do with the U-15 squad which recently reached the final of the
African Youth Games in
Algeria, and which will
form the bulk of the next U-17 team.
“We will approach the
matches one game at a time. Our objective is not only to qualify for the
finals, but for the Super Eagles to also make a meaningful impact at the finals
in Cameroon in the summer of next year,"
Well with that template
in mind, Rohr on Friday dished out his squad in continuation of the qualifier
against Seychelles.
The Eagles lost their
opening match of the qualifying 2-0 at home to South Africa in June last year
and resume away to Seychelles who have been dubbed minors in some quarters.
It is safe to assume
that Nigeria will qualify for the main event and emerge from her group
currently led by Libya with three points followed by South Africa with three
points and Nigeria and Seychelles occupying the bottom without points.
As the Eagles begin the
quest for qualification, and with strong believe in our minds that the team
will ultimately pick one of the slots for the final tournament, the question is' what performance in Cameroon in your own thinking would
translate to "Meaningful Impact?
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