Super Eagles’ coach, Gernot Rohr has turned his attention on his team’s next two matches in the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers, as he says his next target is to win the remaining group games in November, megasportsarena.com reports.
Rohr said as much after leading his side to a 2-0 redemption victory over Central African Republic on Sunday, which made up for their 1-0 loss at home to same team during Thursday’s first leg in Lagos.
The Eagles, who moved five points clear at the top of their group, will first visit Liberia before playing their last game at home against Cape Verde between November 11 and 16 to round-off the group stage of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
They entered Sunday’s second leg with trepidation on their minds, following a shock defeat suffered against the same side at Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos just three days earlier, but it turned out to be a different story on Sunday.
Fear quickly turned into fury, as first half goals from Leon Aderemi Balogun and Victor Osimhen made a world of difference for Rohr’s side, who remain top of the group heading into the last two round of matches next month.
Rohr admitted that his side cannot afford another slip-up, the kind that happened when they fell in Lagos to an added time winner from the visitors, but Balogun, who was mostly blamed for that goal, atoned for that gaffe by netting first in Sunday’s game.
Balogun’s error in Lagos allowed Karl Namnganda in the first leg three days ago, but the Glasgow Rangers of Scotland stopper made amends on Sunday when he knocked in Chidozie Awaziem’s cross to open scoring in the 29th minute.
Incidentally, Balogun was later on replaced by Kenneth Omeruo, after the Scotland-based defender copped a knock, and his absence was immediately felt, the Eagles had a nervous moment in the second half when the sub lost the ball but William Troost-Ekong cleared the ball.
That came long after Osimhen latched onto a pass from Troost-Ekong and jabbed the ball home beyond CAR’s goalkeeper, Prince Samolah to double the advantage just before half-time and the scoreline remained that way till the final whistle.
It was Osimhen’s second goal in the Qatar 2022 qualifiers, but he was denied a brace in the 57th minute, when he rounded the keeper but his goal-bound shot was cleared by a defender, and the second half brought up nothing spectacular inside the empty stadium in Douala.
This, however, means the Eagles can reach the final play-offs of the qualifying series should they win their next game in Liberia next month, as they will then have an unassailable 12 points, even with one round of games left to play.
Another talking point from Sunday’s match was that Eagles’ captain, Ahmed Musa finally won his 100th cap for Nigeria, since his debut in 2010, thereby joining Vincent Enyeama and Joseph Yobo in the centurions’ status.
Rohr was afterwards filled with delight with the performance of his team, who now have nine points from four matches, as the Franco-German tactician hailed his wards for winning the game played in Douala, Cameroon and stay top of Group C.
While heaping praise on Musa for marshalling the redemption on an evening he made history as the third Nigerian player ever to get 100 caps with the national tea, Rohr explained the tactics he employed en route to victory.
The Franco-German gaffer expatiated:”We played only with three at the back and I think this helped us also and with the leadership of Musa to win this game.
“It was a good reaction of my team, we lost the other day, very unlucky, so everybody wanted to take a revenge.
“They try what they do, they are fighting, we have a young team, they can make some mistakes but they never give up.
“They did it very well, even we could score a third goal. We changed also the system. It is not easy to beat this Central African Republic, you saw it.
“They made a lot of fouls, a lot, but fortunately we don’t have any big injury. Now we can prepare with calm the next games in November.
“I hope that everything will be fine at the end of the day. Nobody was in the stadium but I think our fans were watching the match on television. Thank you for your support all the time.”
Eagles’ squad: Maduka Okoye – Chidozie Awaziem, Leon Balogun (Kenneth Omeruo 74’), William Troost-Ekong – Jamilu Collins, Moses Simon, Frank Onyeka, Joe Aribo, Ahmed Musa (Chidera Ejuke 67’) – Kelechi Iheanacho (Innocent Bonke 76’), Victor Osimhen
