Saturday 25 August 2018

AFCON 2019: Rohr not under pressure to deliver





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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