Super Eagles’ head coach, Gernot Rohr has expressed satisfaction that his players have been able to stay safe and healthy during the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, as he says the fact that none of the lads has been reported to be down with the deadly respiratory disease gives him cause to rejoice, megasportsarena.com reports.
He went on to add that he is expecting all the players to continue staying healthy and free of COVID-19, even as he admitted they will have to be extra careful now that many of them are returning to full training with their clubs ahead of the restart of competitive matches across Europe, but Rohr stressed that he is staying upbeat that none of his wards will be infected.
The Franco-German-born coach will earn $49,000 a month instead of $55,000 that was fixed in his previous two contracts, and he has been told to live in Nigeria for at least 10 months, but the tactician said during Mega Sports on Star 101.5 FM, Lagos he is not complaining about anything, because he is ready to make sacrifices for the team, just as he wants his players to follow suit.
The 66-yerar-old gaffer, who also agreed to a pay cut and to receive his salary in Naira as part of the new deal that will keep him in charge of the Eagles until 2022, said he made sacrifices in his decision to sign the contract, in order to guide the team to a fourth Africa Cup of Nations title.
Having led Nigeria to third place at last year’s AFCON in Egypt, where they lost 2-1 to eventual champions, Algeria in the semi-finals, after conceding a stoppage-time goal off Riyard Mahrez’s free-kick, added that he is happy seeing his team top their qualifying group for the 2021 edition in Cameroon with six points after winning their first two games of the series.
Victories against second-placed Benin Republic in Asaba and away to Lesotho, who are third, with home and away games postponed against Sierra Leone, who are bottom with just a point, Rohr praised his players for stepping ujp to the occasion and believes they will be ready to do even better after the coronavirus break, as he says he has been in touch with many of them.
Rohr enthused: “I am happy all the players are healthy. We are in touch with all of them, we have been talking with them, and we hear they are all feeling fine. We have not been able to meet because of the pandemic, but they are all training individually and we expect them to be fit when they return. We hope all the young players will be ready when we need them.
“This is a special job because this is my team, I built it with my staff. It’s a very young team, but the mission is not finished yet, so we want to continue. We all have to make sacrifices and I will be the first.”
