The Head Coach of the Super Eagles, Gernot Rohr, has declared that he won't forget the players who struggled to win the World Cup ticket.
Gernot Rohr
Gernot Rohr, the Super Eagles coach, has indicated that in building a squad for next year’s World Cup, he will give priority to players who won the group B qualification ticket.
However, the German born coach stated that he wouldn’t also ignore Nigerian players who are doing well with their clubs and could fit in into areas of the team that need fortification.
“The players who qualified us for the World Cup, I don’t forget them,” Rohr said. “Maintaining exactly the same team (for the World Cup) will be difficult as the team will keep changing because of injuries and some of the players not playing regularly at their clubs.
“We will continue to follow these players, but perhaps we will need in one, two positions better players, possibly a better team.”
Some of the players who featured prominently in the highly successful qualification campaign include John Obi Mikel, Odion Ighalo, Victor Moses, Moses Simon, Ogenyi Onazi, Wilfred Ndidi, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Leon Balogun, William Troost-Ekong, Alex Iwobi, Kelechi Iheanacho and Shehu Abdullahi.
Youngsters like Henry Onyekuru have proved to be too hot to ignore, even as Rohr is under pressure to recall senior players like Vincent Enyeama and Obafemi Martins.