This is your chance, Lawal tells young Eagles

Former International, Garba Lawal is thrilled by the number of players available to Coach Gernot Rohr for pick, as the Super Eagles set to clash with Benin Republic and Lesotho in next week’s Cameroon 2021 AFCON qualifiers.

Despite the absence of some key players in the friendlies against Ukraine and Brazil, some of the players newly invited to hold forth for the established stars in the Eagles did not disappoint.Speaking with The Guardian yesterday, Lawal said that the youngsters who did well against Ukraine and Brazil could hold their own any day.

“It is fantastic that we now have some youngsters in the Super Eagles. And as a coach you want to see competitions for positions, especially when you have a lot of quality youngsters in your team that you can pick from.

“Now, the coach is not going to be worried over any player who is injured unlike before. I noticed it when we played against Ukraine and Brazil in the two friendly matches and they did well,” he said, adding that this is the time for the youngsters to show what they can do for the country as the qualifiers for the AFCON begin.

“This is time for the players to showcase what they can do. It is left for them to play as a team because this is the biggest competition in African football. In every game, Nigerians expect a win even against the great Brazilian team. “There are no more pushovers in African football. No minnows again. Now, every country wants to be extraordinary to surpass Nigeria when it comes to football. I want to believe that our players too know this.

“The most important thing is that as a coach, you want to see your players playing week in, week out. And I think the team selection will be a lot easier now because the coach will have to depend on players, who play regularly unlike when they rarely play for their clubs,” Lawal stated.