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NFF technical committee advises Eagles to pick regular players for friendlies

By Alex Monye
21 February 2017   |   4:04 am
The Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) Technical Committee has urged Super Eagles Manager, Gernot Rohr, to use the players he needs for the 2019 AFCON and the 2018 World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and the Indomitable Lions of Cameroun ....

Super Eagles

The Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) Technical Committee has urged Super Eagles Manager, Gernot Rohr, to use the players he needs for the 2019 AFCON and the 2018 World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and the Indomitable Lions of Cameroun respectively in the international friendlies lined up for the national team.

Former Super Eagles Coach, Christian Chukwu who is also a member of the committee, said using the first choice players for the tune up matches would give the Super Eagles’ handlers opportunity to detect the weaknesses of the team and also enable the team to blend properly before the qualifiers.

Chukwu, who believes the game against the Indomitable Lions at home would be tough for the Eagles, advised Nigeria to use the warm up games to prepare well for the task ahead. He added that the African Nations Cup has helped Cameroun to blend properly and also given the players the confidence they could beat any team.

Chukwu also urged Rohr to get the Eagles’ preparations right ahead of the qualifiers by inviting the right players to compete for positions in the team.

The former Harambee Stars of Kenya coach said, “the AFCON victory has put the Camerounians in a vantage position to be in Russia, while failure to qualify for the competition has placed the Eagles in a disadvantage position ahead of the qualifiers.

“The reason is that after winning AFCON, the Camerounians have gained enough exposure and blended properly based on the series of games they played at the tournament .The Eagles did not have such privilege and so the coach has to seek a way of getting the players he desires to use against Cameroun and South Africa to play the two friendlies before the qualifiers.

“I must warn that Rohr cannot assemble the Eagles just a few days to the South Africa and Cameroun ties and expect victory. The Camerounian team is more organized and united than the Eagles now,’’ he said.

He advised Nigerian coaches to learn from Cameroun’s Coach, Hugo Broos, who called the bluff of some players that refused to play for the Indomitable Lions. “I also respect the Cameroun coach for going out of his way to select a group of young boys to play at the AFCON… this is a situation Nigerian coaches have to learn from. it takes commitment and quality tactical discipline from players to win games.

Nobody is above the country. A player who does not have a good reason like injury or any vital complain should not be recognized in a team. Competing for shirts should be competitive not a selective process,’’ he added.

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2 Comments

  • Author’s gravatar

    Chukwu keep quiet. When u were there as the Coach u failed completely, u have nothing to offer here. Leave the team alone, and let the people that knows the job do it properly. Rohr was in Gabon, he watched all the Cameroonian matches there and he knows better about the current Cameroonian team better than u do.

  • Author’s gravatar

    There is no sensible and civilized coach that will not try out fringe players in friendlies. Like many Nigerians I question the technical competence of the NFF Technical Committee