Super Eagles head coach, Gernot Rohr has stated that he cannot guarantee that Nigeria will win the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations slated for Cameroon next year.
Rohr while fielding questions from journalists at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba noted that the Eagles have a better chance of winning the AFCON than the World Cup as it is only African countries that will take part.
But he noted that for the Eagles to have their sights on the Africa’s biggest soccer tournament, the young players must improve better than they are presently while the preparations must be spot on too.
He praised the Eagles players who still earned a draw against the Bafana Bafana of South Africa despite having five of their regular players: Francis Uzoho, Wilfred Ndidi, Odion Ighalo, Shehu Abdullahi and Mikel Obi not available for the game.
“I believe there is bigger chance to win the AFCON than the World Cup as Argentina, Russia and other tough countries are not available for the game,” Rohr told journalists.
“But I didn’t say we are going to win it. We only have African countries to play against at AFCON. We have young players who are willing to learn and improve. We can win with good preparations.
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” We saw what the players did in South Africa when they played very well and got a draw despite playing without four key players.”
The Eagles qualified for AFCON for the first time since 2013 when they got a draw against the Bafana Bafana of South Africa last weekend in Johannesburg.
They are on top of Group E with 10 points from five games. South Africa and Libya are second and third with nine and seven points respectively while Seychelles are last with a point from possible 15.