GERNOT ROHR ASSURES: Eagles ready for Africa’s long balls
Nigeria’s senior soccer team’s chief coach Gernot Rohr has stated categorically that he is preparing super Eagles for the typical Africa long ball style for play at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations holding in Egypt from June 21 to July 19.
Disclosing this to German sports magazine, kicker, Rohr said: ”It (The AFCON) is operated on with long balls and then pressing, it’s a different style of play, there are more surprise effects.”
”It’s nice to play football in the evening in a wonderful country like Egypt, it’s only South Africa, where it can get cold in June. I think everything is possible in this group, anyone can beat anyone.”
Asked which of the Group B games will be the toughest for Nigeria in the 2019 AFCON, Rohr told NFF media on Sunday that: ”Burundi, because it is the first match. The first match is always the most difficult match of a competition. Everybody is fresh, the newcomers have nothing to lose, and we must be focused on this game.
”Burundi has a very good team. They are unbeaten in the qualifiers. They have good players plying their trade in Europe and South Africa. It will not be easy, but we are Nigeria, we were one of the five teams that represented Africa at the World Cup, so we have the needed experience. From my final 23-man list, 15 were at the World Cup last year, so this experience can help us.”
”I also expect a lot from this tournament. But it is not good to put pressure on a young team. Let work, fight and do their best. I can only promise that every training session and match will be on the highest level
And sometimes, we need the help of the “God of football”, and sometimes, the referee decisions too, as we saw in Russia, can affect a team. This is a charm in football that we have to accept.
”What I can say to Nigerians now is that I have been here for three years, and I say that we love this country, we want to do our best and win AFCON for Nigerians, but we have to stay hungry. All the twenty-four teams will be prepared, so to win it, you have to win seven matches. It will not be easy, but we can only promise to fight lions to go and win the Africa Cup of Nations.