By Richard Jideaka, Abuja:
Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr says he is excited by the high standards the majority of the Super Eagles’ players are exhibiting in their various clubs in Europe, Completesortsnigeria.com reports.
“I am thrilled with the playing time my players are getting in their clubs in Europe. They not only playing regularly, they are in good form and that is what I demand from them every week. They are doing very good and that is very well for us moving forward,” Rohr told CSN.
“I watch some of their games with their respective clubs and I am impressed with their performance.. I also read or listen to the good comments they get in newspapers, radios and televisions. I am happy they hit top form ahead of the game with South Africa.”
Rohr is particularly happy with new invitee Samuel Chukwueze, Alex Iwobi, Kenneth Omeruo, William Troost-Ekong, Wilfred Ndidi, Samuel Kalu and Ahmed Musa for impressing last weekend.
“if they continue like this, they will make the game against South Africa a bit easier,” Rohr remarked.
“The plan is to avenge the 0-2 loss to South Africa in Uyo by picking the three points in this return leg. A win will mean we qualify for Afcon with a game in hand. We shall give it our best and see whether they can withstand our firepower to stop us.”
The Super Eagles are expected to open camp in Asaba, Delta state on November 12 and travel to South Africa on November 16.
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COMMENTS
For the first time, I read of Coach Rohr talking tough!
I can’t believe this is him speaking. He has a new found confidence: “The plan is to avenge the 0-2 loss to South Africa in Uyo by picking the three points in this return leg…We shall give it our best and see whether they can withstand our firepower to stop us.”
Please sir, communicate this determination and confidence to the team.
Don’t lose to South Africa home and away!
You have our full support and prayers.
Amen to that bro; amen to that.
Bomboy, where you de these day. na Toney be this, Anglian primary school . Jebowe them group. you still dey tap leather?
Yeso, our guys are doing great in Europe and there is no fear for South Africa match. SA should be panicking by now
For those already fretting because of Uzoho, make no mistake, Genet Rohr knows what is at stake and will definitely field a capable Goal keeper. There is no cause for alarm. Whether home based on foreign based, there is a capable replacement for Uzoho, let’s support the team.
Eureka.
“The plan is to avenge the 0-2 loss to South Africa in Uyo by picking the three points in this return leg. A win will mean we qualify for Afcon with a game in hand. We shall give it our best and see whether they can withstand our firepower to stop us.”
Thank you Mr. Rohr. Musa the capon has said so too. That’s all I need to hear and that’s what I’ve been drumming to those South Africans on in their sports site comment section. They have no idea what’s coming for them on November.
What SA site is that? I really wanna go there and finish them in the comment section.
Lol…..yeah,they don’t. Mr Rohr is doing a very good job.thumbs up to him..
I was wondering how Samuel chukwueze who is left footed plays right wing. He really need to work on his right foot if he wants to be world class player.
His style of play is exactly like that of Arjen Robben he dribbles in and curl the ball in with his left foot. That was the same position he played during the under 17 and 20
Thats modern football for you Bro. Wingers are nowadays developed into wing-forwards who should contribute to goal scoring rather than hug the bylines all the time and reduce the goal-scoring threat of the teams’ forward line by -1. Gone are the days when wingers are just expected to dribble past the right or left back and put a cross into the box for a big no 9 to head or jab into the net. Even defenders nowadays are expected to contribute to goal scoring. The idea of wingback and goal scoring centre backs are becoming a norm in modern day football.
Why was Isaac Success not mentioned by Rohr???. Isaac Success is one of our best players in England right now..
why was Isaac Success by coach Rohr?. Isaac Success is one of our best players in England right now.
I have been expecting you to say this before now Mr. Rohr. Your players need the words of encouragement from you.
I know the 3 points its achievable with prayer and hard work. God is in control. Nigerians are solidly behind you. Go and make us proud. God bless Nigeria!!!
@kel, we are together! Have also been giving it to them hot on their platforms like Kickoff Magazine and SuperSport facebook page and from what am seeing there, they seem to be humble this time around cuz most of them are making reference to out players in Europe that are in top gear compared to their PSL team and they are not responding in buying of tickets to watch the game i.e they aren’t coming out to watch the match with most of them saying they admit they already loss the match. @kel please give me more websites so we can keep the pressure and fear on their heads
Hahahaha. That’s mainly Kickoff and soccerdaluma.co.za for me. The more realistic SA fans are less optimistic of their chances against the Super Eagles this month, but the the die-hard ones are saying if they can “molest the druglords” (like they love to say) in their own backyard, nothing stops them from doing a double on SA soil. But the biggest boaster is Stuart Baxter. He never shows respect or analyses the opponents, always deluding himself about how fantastic his team is. That was why after the fluke result in Uyo, countries like Madagascar, Cape Verde and Seychelles have brought him back to earth.
Its okay to have fun on their site but I no5ice many Nigerians also go there to insult people one on one. Am not saying you are like that am only appealing that you be mindful of that. Even of they insult you, you mustnt insult back. We are greater than them and they know it already.
The Super Eagles cannot be called a squad of bench warmers any more. Of the 23 man squad called up only 2 are not regular starters for their clubs. The first Ezenwa is a mystery how he is in the squad ahead of the person benching him at his club and Leon Balogun was recruited as a backup defender.
Apart from those two only those who’s clubs did not have matches did not play a significant part in recent matches last week. i.e Akpeyi as Chippa did not have a match and the Nigeria based players because the league is still in limbo.
Also Kalu who was excused from his regular starting position because of a sore throat.
The rest are regular starters, even Onyekuru and Etebo who were off injured returned and went straight back into the starting lineups.
Great performances mean that competition for starting spots with the SE will be stiff.
we are close to two players for every position with the lead striker subject to challenge between Ighalo, Success and Osimhen, the central attacking position now having Iwobi challenged by Chukwueze, left and right wings overflowing with speed merchants and two central defenders for each position as well ass the defensive midfield positions.
All that’s left now is competition for left and right backs and increased goalkeeping competition that Afelokhai hopefully will provide
Golden Generation or Poisoned Chalice?
Well, it’s quite hard to put it much better than you did.
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Having said all that, the task before Rohr now is how to manufacture a team of Super Eagles that is able to take on the best teams, not only in Africa, not only in tournament qualifiers, but in the World and in tournaments proper.
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If you bring yourself back and recall some teams that have been called “golden generations” only to fall short of expectations and collapse like a pack of cards in the face of a true challenge, then the need to temper expectations may emerge.
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Teams that come to mind are the England teams of Beckham, Owen, Lampard, Gerrard, Crouch, Rooney, Ferdinand, Scholes etc, great players, great coaches,to whom much was given, much was expected but very little was actually delivered over a course of time.
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A more contemporary example is the Belgian team with some extraordinary talents which have only just started living up to it’s potentials – somewhat.
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The current players (I deliberately did not say team) available for selection to the Super Eagles set up at the moment are quite mouth-watering to say the least.
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Add to that the youngsters coming up, mature players like Kayode being overlooked but still invitable, countless talented dual nationalities and domestic players yet to be discovered and you will have no other reasons than to look up to the heavens, as a Super Eagles fan, and say: thank you God!
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Still, a lot still has to come together for all those potentials to be harnessed in a manner that will lead to fulfilment.
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But Rohr appears to be on the right path and is getting some pretty impressive results. After all, he can only do the best he can and hope that all other things are working in his direction.
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That Rohr’s Eagles appear to be on the path to greatness is no doubt, but will he actually take us to the promise land? We will have to wait and see but admittedly, the signs look “promising”.
That England team (Golden generation) did not win anything whatsoever at any age group from under 17 to senior. However, we have two classes of under 17 world cup winners, and these classes are talented and young. Between 2007 and 2015 (5 tournaments) Nigeria reached the final 4 times and won it 3 times.
This squad has the best of those players at its spine, from Uzoho to Omeruo, to Onazi all the way to Success, Osimhen and Chukwueze.
Plus the fact that these players are in good clubs and playing at a high standard on merit and not because they were foisted on clubs or as a design by their FA.
But like you said, all that remains is to mould them into a team capable of winning and picking the right players, tactics and formation
Just to highlight that there are several players on the fringes waiting to grab their chances. Musa Mohammed, Junior Ajayi, Lukman Zakari, Orji Okonkwo, Azubuike Okechukwu,Stanley Amuzie among others
only position of concern is the goalkeeping section. I had thought Alampasu and Emmanuel Daniel will be in the mix by now but…
All in all, I think Rohr needs a Bonfrere Jo in his life now too. An astute tactician that will improve overall play and unlock the potentials bound in this set of Super Eagles!
I 2nd your motion @ birikiti. Rohr sure needs one now. A young, sharp and intelligent tactical assistant that can see and smell tactical danger from miles away. Samson Siasia had Simon Kalika in 2005 U20 WC and 2008 plympics and that added a lot to his teams. He did confess that there were times he would have practically switched off and engrossed himself so deeply in a mactha nd it would take an interuption from Kalika to nudge him back to reality
I agree with you big D. And i sincerely thank FIFA for the MRI initiative the NFF for the U13 and U15 national teams as well as manu garba one man i know who has a eye for talents and can raise 4 U17 teams that will get to the semi finals of the U17 WC at a go. The man painstakingly scouts the whole country for the best of young talents we have, and combines it with some sumptuous coaching on an attacking brand of football that we hve not seen since the swashbuckling days of the ’94 generation. Amunike’s team was not as all conquering though, but they were highly tactically disciplined, thanks to amuneke’s own football tutelage received in clubs like Sporting lisbon and barcelona coupled with his uefa coaching training to the level of bagging a Pro licence. We are currently reaping form our youth team successes in the last 8years, especially at the U17 level. Most of the players now making waves in europe have at one time or the other represented us at youth level and are now blossoming into quality players.
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Our SE eagles is now gradually emerging and i thank G.Rohr for quietly building us a new national team without even making noise about it. All the coaches we’ve always had before now made ‘rebuilding” a song that almost became an anthem to our ears, yet gave us no team. Anyone who thinks G. Rohr doesnt know what he’s doing is plain ignorant. They drop names with reckless abandon and sometimes want as my as 8 new invitees to the super eagles all the time as if the SE is a trialist camp. Building a team and getting them to gel as a team takes at least 7 matches….7 good matches, 1 new invitee disrupts the entire rhythm and then takes another 7 matches to get the team back into rhythm. This is something the coach clearly understands and is evident in the way he gradually blends new commers into the team. If the coach hasnt invited your favorite player yet….its not bcos he doesnt like his face, he’s simply trying to create a rhythm within the team and getting the whole squad to allign with his own philosophies. Without us noticing it, we almost have 2 players per position in the team at the moment, except for the no 10 and no 3 roles. No one loves G.rohr’s job more than G.Rohr…!!!
This is the impact of having a foreign coach at the helm of affairs. For a very long time SuperEagles players are now painting Europe red with scintillating performances because they have a coach who is pushing them all the way.
Understandably our ouster at the Mundial was widely expected because that was the first major tournament for this young SuperEagles. Yet the SuperEagles were only seconds away from ousting Argentina to reach the round of 16. IMHO I don’t think GR was afraid of any of our opponents. He was only humble in his approach since he had the youngest team at the WorldCup.
However, after seeing the way his team left the WorldCup with our reputation intact his confidence on the team began to grow. Like I said previously I can’t remember the last time the SuperEagles won a qualifier home and away like we did against Libya. The last time I can truly recall if I’m not mistaking was during the days of Clemence Westerhoff when we actually had the greatest SuperEagles of all time.
Now we are ranked 44th in the world and 3rd in Africa. There was a time we were languishing below the 50s. And I’m absolutely certain that the SuperEagles will reclaim it’s rightful place on the podium of African football at the AFCON next year. The SuperEagles are expected to reach at least the Semi Final in any AFCON they participated. #FLY LIKE AN EAGLE INTO FUTURE# SUPEREAGLES ON THE HORIZON.
To me I think samuel chukwueze the villareal boy will be replacing samuel kalu in the starting lineup.the boy is faster,stronger,taller and also a leftfooter who plays in a more competitive league and also in a bigger club than the samuel kalu who is in bourdeux.chukwueze knows how to play with the team but kalu is a solo player he always wants to do everything by himself and thats too bad for a young lad like him.so I think mr rohr has to consider the villareal guy because he is just like a stronger version of arjen robben
i don’t know why anyone is not talking about Phil Billing, He is far better than Etebo & Agu. He plays regularly, he might be a good pair with or backup for Ndidi.
Who’s that? What club does he play for?
Phillip Anyanwu Billing Huddersfield (EPL) and Denmark under21.
He has not agreed to change loyalty. Will probably put Denmark ahead of Nigeria in the same way Kevin Akpoguma has put Germany before Nigeria and Arnaud Groeneveld Danjuma put The Netherlands until they picked him.
We have at least 8 defensive midfielders playing in the top 20 leagues in the world, so we should nurture them instead..
If he (Phillip) wants to play for Nigeria he should declare
BigD, great contributions from you as always; I am total agreement with all your points.
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I suspect though that England fans would say that what their ‘golden generation’ of players lacked in youth football pedigree,they more than made up for in club football pedigree.
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They would say, I suspect, that these players lifted premier league trophies, won champions leagues and Europa Leagues, lifted Carling cups, community sheilds and FA cups; played with and against the best teams in the world in the best leagues week in week out.
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Yet, when it came to the national team, funny enough often against the same players they played with/against in club Football, they achieved little.
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That is England, this is Nigeria. As a Nigerian, I join you, Ayphill and others in riding the wave of optimism present sweeping our national team set-up.
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This is wishing them all the best (including our women’s team) in challenges to come in the hope that, in the words of Ayphill, “that the SuperEagles will reclaim it’s rightful place on the podium of African (and world) football’.
Yes @deo I agree with you. Hopefully after reclaiming our rightful place on the podium of African football we will surprise and stun the world in Qatar come 2022. I know for sure that if we qualify for the Olympics in Tokyo 2020 we have a plethora of U23 talents that can claim the Gold in Tokyo, but the Mundial in Qatar 2022 is where I expect this team to flourish and stun the world. In fact GR should be thanking his stars to have all these talents at his disposal. Blending them to be world beaters is the next step over the next 3 years.
Aphilly, the under 23s are a whole different kettle of fish with squad choice and clubs withholding players.
Ordinarily, players who have missed out on Super eagles selection should be called up for the Under 23s with maybe three senior players (who are of age0 to bolster the experience in the squad. With this in mind I’d expect to see young players who are doing well with their clubs being called up. Names like Orji Okonkwo, Stephen Odey, Funso Bamgboye, Kingsley Michael, Musa Mohammed, Taiwo Awoniyi to be involved in the squad. Others from the CHAN squad and the Nigeria b team who played in the game against Athletico Madrid. BUT, the same rules for the senior team: must be playing regularly with their clubs and merged with the current squad to find the right balance. Also play the same formation as the Super eagles in order that they are prepared for the next step when it happens. They know the tactics, the formations and the style of play.
I would also suggest testing the loyalties of the Europe born and bred players who have played under 20 for other countries are linked with the Super Eagles and invite them to camp too.
Build success on success. Success with the under 23s in qualifying for the Olympics and doing well, success in the Olympics proper. Success with the Super Eagles in qualifying for AFCON and success in the competition. Promote those who are successful with the under 23s and will improve the Senior squad based on need and talent.
However, the Olympics is outside of FIFA jurisdiction and there is always a tug of war between African countries and European clubs in releasing their young players for this qualification and tournament proper, plus it is notoriously difficult to keep tabs on these players who are not in the senior team for their clubs, as information about their performance is scanty and will require proper scouting.
in the final analysis, squad selection based on merit, and needs (who fits the style of play, tactics and formations) of the team must take priority
Great optimism from Rohr.I knew he was gutted by that home loss against South Africa.That defeat is painful from the players the coaches and we the fans.Everyone was let down and to make matter worst Stuart Baxter was boastful and made good his promise of bringing the super eagles down.
However, it’s over a year now and the memories of that defeat still lingers.This is the character of a winner.And to make everyone happy nothing short of victory is expected from our team and it would be a sweet revenge and nothing will be sweeter to have south Africa ousted from Cameroon 2019 Afcon by the super eagles of Nigeria.
We have the personnel.The players are brimming with fire expectations are high and victory won’t be far fetched as we look forward to the 17th of November. Can’t wait ha.
God bless Nigeria!
Pls does anyone know the whereabouts of this guy that ends his posts with “The Just shall live by Faith”….i think Ghadaffi or something. I hope he’s fine wherever he his. Just asking ni o..!
this has really change, this what i’ve been expecting from oga rohr, i am too glad for my players who are making names in europe by storm……this mornning i even read a news saying zultewaregem of belgium top flight. the fans want the coach sacked because he fail to sign osimhen.
Theophelous Afolokhia of Eyimba deserves the stating gloves against SA. He’s the best in the contry right now
Samuel chukwueze was on target this evening for Villarreal in LA liga.A plus for the Super Eagles Against SA