Nigeria’s Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, who recently signed a contract extension with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), has said the Super Eagles are “not number one in Africa” and that makes it difficult to for him to deliver the 2021 AFCON trophy.
The 66-year-old who guided the Super Eagles to a 3rd-place finish in 2019 AFCON in Egypt said he is “happy to continue” with Nigeria and that the new deal was “good for all of us.”
The contract discussion between the NFF and Rohr, which lasted for over 2 months, finally came to an end with the announcement by the President of the Federation. But the NFF statement also highlighted a major expectation – that Rohr is to deliver the AFCON 2021 title to Nigeria, something the manager thinks will be difficult, though not impossible.
“When you go to a tournament it is to win it,” Rohr said.
“We finished third in the last AFCON in 2019 and everybody wants us to progress, but we know also that it is very difficult to win this tournament because we are not number one in Africa.”
“But it is good to have these milestones and ambition.”
Rohr, whose new two-and-a-half year contract runs until the 2022 World Cup, also highlighted that he understands the risks of his contract and knows he has to qualify for Qatar.
“My contract all the time is a risk because it is finished when we are eliminated from a competition – whether the AFCON or World Cup,” Rohr explained.
“I took the risk already when I arrived, and it is still the same. But I am very optimistic, because now we have a team which is playing good football and I have confidence in my players.”
The German succeeded Nigeria legend Sunday Oliseh at the helm of the Super Eagles in 2016.
Rohr qualified Nigeria for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, but failed to progress the team past the group stage after defeats to Croatia and Argentina.
