Super Eagles’ coach, Gernot Rohr has recounted the nightmare he had when his team crumbled like a pack of cards in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Sierra Leone in Benin City, as they gave away a 4-0 lead to settle for a 4-4 at Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, megasportsarena.com reports.
With his team set to host another ‘tiny’ Anglophone West African country, Liberia, in a World Cup qualifier this Friday at Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, Rohr admitted that they must avoid repeating the same mistakes that almost spelt doom against The Leone Stars in November 2020.
This time out, The Lone Star of Liberia are the team threatening another shock result against their hosts, heading into which Rohr admitted he is wary of errors on the part of his players, who he has now charged to take all their training sessions very seriously.
The Franco-German tactician, who has previously been in charge of his heyday club, Girondins-Bordeaux, as well as the national tams of Gabon, Niger Republic and Burkina Faso, stressed that the Eagles cannot afford to take their visitors with levity on Friday.
He went on to warn his players not to underestimate Liberia when both teams trade tackles in their opening Qatar 2022 qualifier and buttressed his point by citing the draw with Sierra Leone, hence his charge that his players must strive to make a huge impact straightaway.
While urging the lads to go for the kill straight off from the first blast of the referee’s whistle on Friday, Rohr concluded by enthusing that he has been quite encouraged and delighted seeing how his invited players have responded to training sessions since Monday and noted that they are all in good physical condition.
Rohr acknowledged: “I think with the shape of our players, what I saw in the training session already this morning and this afternoon we can trust in our team.
“We have to be careful, we never underrate anybody, we don’t forget what happened in Benin City a few months ago and we must take this opponent very seriously.
“We will prepare very well, we have another two training sessions and then we will be ready if it’s like today – not too hot, fresh wind, fresh air, good pitch – then we play good football.”
