• Friday, March 29, 2024
businessday logo

BusinessDay

Rohr rubbishes exit rumour, says focused on 2021 AFCON 

Gernot Rohr-speaks

Super Eagles Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr,  on Saturday in Singapore told the media that he is preparing three –time African champions Nigeria for 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Benin Republic and Lesotho, rubbishing claims by a journalist on social media that he wants to quit the job.

“The game against Brazil will show how much we are progressing after finishing third at the Africa Cup in Egypt. It is a fantastic opportunity for us to learn a few more things that will make us better and stronger for future challenges.

“This is an important test game for us, and we are here to learn from the best. We hope for a very good game against Brazil on Sunday. This will help us prepare ourselves for the 2021 AFCON qualifiers against Benin Republic and Lesotho next month,” Rohr said at the pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s clash with the five –time world champions at the Singapore National Stadium in Kallang.

“After the 2019 AFCON, two of our top players (Mikel Obi and Odion Ighalo) retired and we have to see how to replace them. We saw a little bit in our friendly against Ukraine last month and hope we can improve on that performance tomorrow.

“A good showing against Brazil will help our confidence a great deal.”

Stand –in captain William Ekong has insisted that though the Super Eagles respect five –time world champions Brazil, they have no fear as both teams step out in a prestige friendly in Singapore on Sunday evening.

“Brazil is a top team, probably the best team in the world. But Senegal gave them a good fight on Thursday. We can pick some inspiration from that performance when we play the Brazilians on Sunday.

“It will be tough because they will want to win at least one game against an African team on this tour, but we will also want to take something off them.”

Sunday’s encounter starts at 8pm Singapore time (1pm Nigeria time).