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Gernot Rohr says Valentine Ozornwafor has proved doubters wrong following his impressive performance in the Super Eagles goalless draw against Cameroon, in their second friendly in Austria on Tuesday.
Ozornwafor made his first start for the Eagles after replacing the injured William Troost-Ekong and put up a commendable display.
There were question marks concerning his invitation for the friendlies due to limited number of games he played for his club last season.
And Rohr has showered plaudits on the defender, stating he has shown he belong in the Eagles team.
“We had a problem in the defense so for the first time we played Valentine,” Rohr told Super Eagles media. “He did very well and we finished the match with Simon who is a winger playing left-back and we didn’t concede a goal.
“I’m very happy for Valentine because a lot of people did not understand why he was with us. He showed today the reason why he can play with us, he did very well in central defense.
“Like I said before, the result is not the most important, what is important is to test some players and see new faces which was the case again today. We didn’t want to concede a goal we wanted to score but we could not and when we are missing players like Osimhen, Aribo, Chukwueze, Kalu, Henry, it’s not easy.
“But they (players) did well, we had a lot of chances in this two games we couldn’t score but the match today was interesting. It was the last match of the season for a lot of the players, they came in the middle of the holidays to work hard for 10 days with us and the fruits of the work will come and I think we will be ready in September for the World Cup qualifiers against Liberia and Cape Verde.“
And on why Francis Uzoho, who was to be in goal against Cameroon missed the game, Rohr said:
“Uzoho did not feature against Cameroon because he was injured. He came this morning with a painful leg and told me coach I cannot make it.
“Like Olayinka who was to start but in yesterday’s training he was injured which is not a big one but we don’t want to take any risk because I don’t want any player to go on holidays or back to their clubs with injury.“
9 Comments
Did you mean Marcus or the same Ozonwafor that was misplacing passes and could not use his height advantage. I thought Awaziem should be praised for playing 5 and 6 in the match. Okay, go ahead and invite him against Mexico.
Perhaps, it seem to me that you are trying to deflect the fact that you are technically bereft of right tactical approach. Your best is not good enough to win pangolo with SE. No wonder the nff feels they are doing you a favor for renewing your contract. The main reason why your salary is being withheld and you are not bold enough to take normal action.
Mr. Political coach, but you took that risk playing Collins whose injury was more pronounced ahead of the match
G Rohr is a coach at the level of Niger, Togo, Benin Republic, Tanzania etc. The super Eagles is too big for this man , he should be sent packing. In his five years as our coach he has not been able to impact the team or improve their play tactically, it is shocking to still see our players balloon the ball aimlessly into the air around the 18 of our opponents . i saw it happen against Benin, Lesotho and now Cameroon. If we continue like this, super Eagles may be embarrassed at the next Afcon in Cameroon.
Besides, our goalkeepers coach should go with him because he is very tribalistic, to him no other goalkeeper(s) is good enough for the National team unless you are Igbo, it is bad for the growth of our football.
So it’s the Coach that will be teaching NACHO how to score goals??? LOLZ…..
A player that has worked under PELEGRINI & QUARDIOLA should now be tutored on how to shoot….
Hahahahaha…. Wonders shall never end in Nigeria….
E be like sey una dey see this SE as U17?
If this is the same set of players that will play against mexico then we should expect nothing much from the team. Its really sad that most players in the team are picking up injuries at this point, maybe it is due to the stress of the previous season.
I hope its clear though that some players are not ready for the super eagles challenge yet despite the number of goals they scored for their clubs. I suggest players like , onuachu, moffi, anayo, collins, and the injured players be dropped from the team to face Mexico and players like sadiq, alhassan, calvin bassey, nwobodo, nwakaili be invited for the friendly.
Mr. Coach, also prove your doubters wrong in this world cup qualifier. Win matches not only base on individual talent but also by good technical input from the coach.
We, can’t even use this coming world cup qualifier to test the strength of super eagles because the teams in our group are milky mouse teams.
@chima, bro pls don’t slap him, Rohr was hanging out with Lai Mohammed last week, I’m sure u know the rest. I’ve said this before and I will boldly say it again as of today we only ve five or six Super Eagles players, rest are not ready yet.folks let’s stop leaving in the bubble we don’t ve a team,I’m afraid this Eagles may not touch the sky soon
@Frank Smith there is nothing like Igbo, Yoruba, or Hausa here. Super Eagles is not the Federal Character Commission, Abuja. Rather, it is a place where only the best are selected. It is a place where players playing at the highest level possible are considered first before any other consideration. Unless you are suggesting that the Super Eagles selection should now be based on quota system instead of merit. Otherwise, your argument about Agu lacks merit.
If you were talking about Agu’s competency, I may not have much to say because I have never seen him training goalkeepers. And I doubt you have seen him doing his SE job. Honestly, there is no way you can objectively rate somebody who you have never seen in action.
Forget that Maduka is still a little chap. That guy is a hot cake…….the first choice goalkeeper of Sparta Rotterdam. That’s no mean feat. He is the first keeper in that club, ahead of the older and more experienced Van Leer, who incidentally is also from the Netherlands. That’s not a child’s play. Is it because Maduka Okoye willingly agreed to play for us?
After this double friendly, the two players that really impressed me, apart from our regulars……….are Awaziem and Ozornwafor. I thought Awaziem won’t do well in central defence judging from his past dismal performances in that position. But he has really matured and improved. He is no longer nervous and lacking in composure. No doubt, playing him at right back has really helped to integrate him into the team and should be the factor behind the result we all have seen in the two friendlies.
On his part, Ozornwofor, was so calm as though it was not his first start for SE. He has done enough to be called up next time.
If Rohr calls Iwuala again, it is either he beats me or I beat him. Iwuala should get a club abroad, improve more before he being recalled. We have to stop this home-based sentiment. Football is no child’s play……..it is a very serious business. Hence, we must always go with our best of best players. And in all honesty, our best of bests are outside the shores of this country. The fact that they are good enough is one reason why they are outside Nigeria. Another reason why they could be better than the home based is because, they are more likely to have access to better training facilities, and also, exposure to better tactical and technical knowledge
Rohr is increasingly becoming inconsistent!
He once invited that Russian League sensation, Ejuke and gave him only few minutes on the pitch where he showed flashes of brilliance.
We though Rohr will give him more opportunities in subsequent matches to enable him get more game time and develop his confidence, but no, Rohr seemed to have forgotten about him and Dessers in a flash while inviting others that he would also abandon without thoroughly given them enough time to prove their worth.
And why did Rohr continually ignore the hugely talented midfielder, Kelechi Nwakali at a time when the Super Eagles are in dire need of quality midfielders?
Where are Elderson Etiti, Chidebere Nwakali, Mikel Agu, Joel Obi, etc? You can not be ignoring quality midfielders and focusing only on strikers and expect to have a stable and strong team without providing stiff competition for the likes of Ndidi, Etebo, Okoye, etc.
Let Rohr note that the strength of a team lies in the depth of its bench!
Rohr kept mentioning the absence of Osimhen, Chukweze, etc as excuses for non performance to the dismay of all. What of if they are injured during a tournament? Will that means the end of the road for the team in that tournament?
I initially thought Rohr is an intelligent coach, but now I am beginning to doubt that based on his unintelligent analysis of issues bordering on the performance of the national team lately.