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Former Super Eagles’ head coach, Gernot Rohr is taking credit for the switch in national team allegiance that has seen Glasgow Rangers of Scotland midfielder, Joe Aribo star for the Super Eagles and feature at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
Though Rohr is no longer in charge of the Eagles at AFCON 2021, where they are being handled by interim coach, Augustine Eguavoen, the Franco-German tactician recounted how he brought Aribo into the squad.
To get Aribo make a switch from his international allegiance with England, Rohr spoke to his father and convinced the player to join up with the Eagles in September 2019, a move that is now paying off handsomely for Nigeria and the lad.
Aribo scored seven goals in the Rangers team that won the Scottish Premiership last season and has already netted six times in this campaign, as the Glasgow club have seen Gerrard leave for Aston Villa with Giovanni van Bronckhorst taking over.
Usually deployed in a more attacking role at Ibrox, Aribo has been playing in the centre of Nigeria’s midfield alongside Wilfred Onyinyen Ndidi, to the extent that his form has led him being linked with a move back down to England, this time in the English Premier League.
In the Eagles’ first match at AFCON 2021, Aribo laid on Kelechi Iheanacho’s winner against Egypt and might have had more assists had the Nigerian strikers’ finishing been better, much to the glee of Rohr, who has also coached Gabon, Niger Republic and Burkina Faso.
While pointing out that his protégé is on form at the right time, Rohr confessed that he was deeply satisfied seeing Aribo start Nigeria’s first two group games and helped the Eagles get victories against Egypt and Sudan that sealed their place in the last 16.
With the Eagles having already qualified for the knock-out stage with a game to spare and Aribo hanging on accumulated cards, Eguavoen opted to rest the midfielder for their final group game, which they won 2-0 over Guinea-Bissau.
It was a ploy by Eguavoen to keep Aribo fresh for Sunday’s last-16 tie against Tunisia, but that did not take anything away from the impact the former Charlton Athletic of England dazzler has achieved in Garoua, much to the delight of Rohr, who gave the lad his international debut.
Eguavoen’s decision to rest Aribo and AS Torino of Italy defender, Ola Aina against Guinea-Bissau last Wednesday was motivated by a desire to protect both players from the threat of a booking that would have ruled them out of the last 16.
The 68-year-old Rohr, who enjoys speaking about the players he worked with while in charge of the Eagles, added that he is not feeling any form of bitterness about the manner of his exit four weeks before AFCON, and seeing Aribo shine in Cameroon gives him some consolation.
The 25-year-old Aribo, who was born in London, made his bow for Nigeria in September 2019, not long after joining Rangers from Charlton, also impressed Rohr in terms of his character, as the gaffer recalls that the lad is adorable and very polite.
Rohr recounted in a chat AFP: “When I called him up for the first time, he scored a goal as soon as he came into the side.
“It was a friendly match in Ukraine after the last Africa Cup of Nations when we were looking at new players.
“He played really well in that first match and remained in the starting line-up from then on as long as he was fit, because he has had some injury problems and had Covid.
“He listens, he is quite reserved and doesn’t talk a lot, but he can do it, if he has to. He is a player who tends to stay in the shadows.
“He is technically excellent and can make the difference with his left foot. He is a box-to-box player who gets forward from deep. He likes to beat his man and go for goal.”
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