Super Eagles’ coach, Gernot Rohr opted for a run of secrecy in his effort to put finishing touches to his starting eleven for Friday’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Sierra Leone, as the Franco-German tactician demanded that his last training session held behind closed doors.
Megasportsarena.com learned that it happened late Thursday, as Rohr gathered his wards into the eerie and hollow ambiance of an empty Samuel Ogbemudia for the last time before Friday’s game, which is scheduled to begin at 5pm in the Edo State capital, Benin City.
Incidentally, Friday’s match will hold behind closed doors, such that Rohr and his wards should be used to the echoing enclosure by now, though it was not until the last training session on Thursday that the gaffer had a full complement of all players invited for the game from clubs spread across Europe.
It was not until Thursday that Rohr was able to perfect his strategies with 24 players ahead of Friday’s clash with The Leone Stars, as only 22 had been present on Wednesday, with the absentees being Kaizer Chiefs of South Africa goalkeeper, Daniel Akpeyi and Abdullahi Shehu from Omonia Nicosia of Cyprus.
Akpeyi was finally at the Eagles’ Eterno Hotel camp on Wednesday night and declared himself ready for the final session on Thursday, but a dark cloud of doubt was already hanging his possibility of making the Eagles’ starting line-up after missing two days of training.
In place of Akpeyi, Sparta Rotterdam of Holland shot-stopper, Emil Maduka Okoye looks good to continue from where he ended in 180 minutes of action across friendlies against Algeria and Tunisia last month, while getting his first competitive game since debut for the Eagles against Brazil in October 2019.
With only 23 players to be named in matchday squads for 2021 AFCON qualifiers, Rohr will have to drop one goalkeeper from his squad to battle Sierra Leone, with Sebastian Osigwe and Ikechukwu Ezenwa now expected as back-up to Okoye, thereby marking another absence for Akpeyi, who was not invited for the friendlies against Algeria and Tunisia due to injury.
Heading into Thursday, Rohr demanded that the Eagles should train behind closed doors in their final workout, considering that their privacy and peace had been invaded since the very first day of their arrivals in Benin City.
The Eagles’ training had also been subject of public scrutiny, with some fans and journalists finding their way into Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium to hobnob with the players, despite the COVID-19 protocol in place, while Edo State deputy governor, Honouraable Philip Shuaib even trained fully with the team on Wednesday.
However, based on Rohr’s directive, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) blocked members of the press and fans from attending Thursday evening’s training session which began at 6pm; as the Eagles followed a new routine that commenced with breakfast at 9am, followed by a team meeting at 12:30pm, lunch at 1:15, dinner at 10:30 and bedtime fixed for 11pm.
