Super Eagles’ coach, Gernot Rohr has declared that he is targeting victory home and away for his squad against Sierra Leone in their impending Africa Cup of Nations double-qualifiers.
Speaking ahead of the first leg this Friday in Benin City, the Franco-German tactician interjected that he is not underrating The Leone Stars, but stressed that picking an early ticket to AFCOIN 2021 in Cameroon is upmost on his mind.
With that thought lingering, Rohr is seeking six maximum points from the games in Benin and Freetown to cement his side’s spot atop the qualification group and an early ticket to Cameroon, just as it was when he took the Eagles to Russia 2018 World Cup.
Consequently, the media unit of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has issued a statement indicating that Rohr and his wards have become used to a trend of picking earlier qualifications, as the coach has achieved a feat of earning tickets to major tournaments with matches to spare during his four years and four months’ tenure in charge.
The NFF’s communications department added that the Eagles aim to continue that trend when they confront The Leone Stars in their quickfire back-to-back AFCON qualifying games, and the coach had a massive boost at lunch time on Wednesday, with all 23 invited players on ground at the team’s camp inside Eterno Hotel & Suites in Benin City.
The Eagles settled down firmly and held their first full training session, just before Sierra Leone’s 43-man contingent flew into town, as the delegation from Freetown first flew into Lagos aboard ASKY Airline, before being lifted by chartered flight to the Edo State capital, where they quickly lodged into Lushville Hotel.
That provided the signal for a step-up in preparations by Rohr, who recalls how he was able to guide Nigeria to Russia 2018 with a match to spare, despite being in a tough group that also had Cameroon, Algeria and Zambia.
The former Bayern Munich of German defender, who has also coached Girondins-Bordeaux of France as well as the national teams of Niger Republic, Gabon and Burkina Faso, also led the Eagles to earn a 2019 AFCON ticket ahead of the final day of the qualifiers and went on to pick bronze at the competition proper in The Land of The Pharaohs.
He has now admitted that he would love repeating that feat en route to Cameroon 2021 and, though he acknowledged that his side must not underrate their visitors from Freetown, he is expecting his wards to conform to style and taste in picking another early qualification ticket.
“I am excited by the spirit of the players and their sense of dedication and commitment. We have not played a competitive match in a year, but they look very ready and good to go. Our mission is the six points in these two matches.
“We do not in any way under-rate the Sierra Leoneans that we play over two legs within these four days, but we have our focus and objective for the matches. We want to win both games so we can have the ticket and be able to be little more relaxed for the final games.
“You know that next year, we also have the World Cup qualifiers to focus on. It is better to get the AFCON job behind us now,” Rohr submitted pointedly.
