Tag: Gernot Rohr

Nigeria Football Supporters Club sends strong message to Gernot Rohr

The Nigeria Football Supporters Club (NFSC) has sent a strong message to Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr, urging him to maintain the team that played the last African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier match against Benin Republic.

TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports NFSC’s message was contained in a statement issued by the club’s Media Officer, Peter Ejiofor that also congratulated the Super Eagles for defeating the Squirrels of Benin Republic and qualifying for 2022 AFCON to be held in Cameroon.

According to NFSC, this is to ensure that the Super Eagles of Nigeria defeat the Crocodilea od Lesotho on Tuesday when they play their last qualifier.

In his reaction to the match played at Charles de Gaule Stadium in Port Novo, the National Chairman of the club, Rev. Sam Ikpea, said: “We at the Supporters Club are very proud of this present crop of super Eagles.

“It was a fantastic outing and a welcome victory. The Squirrels of Republic of Benin perhaps never bargained for the superior power of our boys on the pitch.

“Our boys displayed courage, raw talent and hunger for victory and their resilience brought the needed victory and pride to Nigeria.’’

Ikpea added that: “should our boys maintain this spirit and resilience, we are sure of bringing the AFCON Cup home’’.

Also, the Public Relations Secretary of NFSC, Dominic Ehimare, said: “It’s pertinent that Rohr maintains this current team.

“Our boys had superior midfield power though the Squirrels had an almost impregnable defence.

“In all, it was a very tough match but the Eagles, like the colossus of Athens, bestrode the field of play and came out victorious.

“We are carrying the AFCON Cup, I can say with all sense of clairvoyance. This is not a hollow prophecy but it’s what will come to pass.

“I do not see any other team matching these current boys. They are fit to lift the cup.’’

It would be recalled that NFSC had on Friday staged a walk around the sports city, Surulere, to welcome back the Super Eagles to Lagos after 20 years absence to play against Republic of Benin on Saturday in Port Novo and Lesotho on Tuesday in Lagos.

The Super Eagles’ last game in Lagos was against Zambia.

The walk which started from NFSC’s headquarters at Funso Williams Avenue, Surulere, Lagos, took the singing and dance troupe of Nigeria’s foremost football fans club to Teslim Balogun Stadium and environs.

Ikpea explained at the event that the walk was staged ostensibly to sensitise teeming football fans and lovers of Super Eagles on the return of the team to Lagos, the acclaimed home of football.

“We want all Nigerians to be aware of the return of our darling Super Eagles to Lagos.

“Much more, we staged this walk to galvanise all Nigerians to support our national team in their games against their opponents, particularly, the match against Lesotho in Lagos, next week Tuesday,’’ he said.

Ikpea enjoined Nigerians to support the Super Eagles on the match days by droning Nigeria’s national colours as a sign of patriotism.

March 28, 2021
Izilein seeks support for Super Eagles Coach, Gernot Rohr

A former Super Falcons handler, Godwin Izilein, on Monday, called for total support for Super Eagles Coach, Gernot Rohr, to enable him deliver on his mandate.

Ozilein, who made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin, said this would also enable him win laurels for Nigeria and build a formidable team.

According to him, now is not the time to criticise the German tactician, as he is building a team that will rescue Nigeria from poor performances.

Ozilein, however, urged the coach to be guided by the performances of players before extending invitation to them.

For instance, he said that it was unethical and unprofessional for Rohr to have invited Ahmed Musa for the remaining AFCON qualifiers, saying that the player had been without a club for in the last few months.

“You do not have to extend invitation to players based on sentiment; rather, invitation should be based on performances.

“There should not be automatic shirt for anybody not doing well.

“To me, even if Ndidi, who is doing well today, does not perform in a month, he should be put aside.

“Rohr must take note of this, if he must succeed,” Ozilein said.

On extension of invitation to local players, he said if there was any player worthy of such, he should be invited to gain experience from the professionals.

Izilein, who also coached the Golden Eaglets, however, said that Rohr deserved commendation for building a youthful team and phasing out old players.

“He is giving us marketable young men who will give us result. He is building a team that will rescue us from poor performance,” he stated.

March 15, 2021
Why Super Eagles can’t win World Cup – Rohr

Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr has expressed his pessimism about Nigeria’s chances of winning the World Cup with the current players at his disposal.

Rohr led Nigeria to their sixth appearance at the FIFA World Cup in Russia, where they crashed out at the group stage.

“We are not ready to win the World Cup, for several reasons,” Rohr told NewsCentral.

“France is the champions at the moment, where they are playing? They are playing in PSG, Bayern Munich. Four of them are world champions at their clubs also

“So when you have so many of your players from your countries playing in the best clubs, so the probability that you also have one of the best teams in the world is very big.

“So what we have in Nigeria for example, we have our players in Fulham, in West Bromwich. It’s not Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Manchester United or Barcelona. But the other ones have their players there. So it would be a miracle if we actually win the World Cup.”

February 23, 2021
How Ahmed Musa, Rohr voted in the Best Fifa awards

Nigeria captain Ahmed Musa voted Lionel Messi as the best men’s player for 2020 while coach Gernot Rohr picked Robert Lewandowski for the Best Fifa Men’s Player award.

Following an incredible 2019-20 season with Bayern Munich, Lewandowski claimed the coveted recognition on Thursday after beating Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Messi to the top prize.

Despite their contrasting choice of winners, Rohr and Musa both had an African star who helped Liverpool end their 30-year wait for an English top-flight title and also won the Fifa Club World Cup last season, in their picks.

After selecting the Polish striker as his winner, Rohr picked PSG star Kylian Mbappe for the second spot while Senegal’s Sadio Mane was placed in the third position.

Musa, on his part, chose Messi to lead his pick followed by Lewandowski and Mane in the second and third places, respectively.

When the official voting results were released, Lewandowski had a total of 58 points while Ronaldo managed 38 points and Messi had 35 points.

Goal

December 18, 2020
Super Eagles: No reason to sack Rohr, Pinnick insists

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president Amaju Pinnick has insisted there is no reason for the sacking of Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr.

The German tactician has been in charge of the Nigerian national team since 2016 and recently signed a new two-year contract after satisfying his bosses at the NFF.

He guided the West Africans to the 2018 World Cup in Russia with ease and led the side to finish third at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations Egypt.

Rohr came under a barrage of criticism after a four-game winless run, including his side’s back-to-back draws against Sierra Leone in Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Goal 50 Revealed: The best 50 players in the world

Nigeria’s Minister of Sports and Youth Development Sunday Dare also expressed his displeasure with the run of not-too impressive performances, questioning the competency and the suitability of the 67-year-old.

Pinnick, has, however, come in the defence of Rohr, highlighting the stats of the Super Eagles since he took charge of the three-time African champions.

“Nobody is happy about what happened against Sierra Leone in both matches,” Pinnick told BBC Sport Africa.

“But it is not enough to sack the coach because his team is still top of the Nations Cup group after four matches.

“His statistics speak volume for him, so on what indexes do we want to sack him considering the contract recently signed by both parties.

“No matter how emotional and disappointed the fans are, there’s no basis to sack him now and he deserves to keep his job.

“When you look at his performance, where he has won 29 matches, drew 14 and lost 10, you can say that is enough to back him.

“Yes, the performance in the last two games has not gone down well with some people, but we need to be professional, honest and respectful in how we analyse things.”

Despite the draw against Sierra Leone, Nigeria still maintain their lead on the top of Group L of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying table with eight points from four games.

The Super Eagles will next take on the Republic of Benin and Lesotho in their last two games in the qualifying campaign in March 2021.

Goal

November 21, 2020
AFCON: NFF releases Super Eagles squad to face Sierra Leone

The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has released a 24-man list of players invited for their upcoming African Cup of Nations qualifying match against Sierra Leone.

The list features highly-rated Nigerian forward, Victor Osimhen who was notably missed in the Eagles squad for their friendly match against Algeria and Tunisia.

Ahmed Musa, the Eagle’s captain was also invited for the match after his contract with Saudi Arabian side Al-Nasr was abruptly terminated.

However, Genk forward, Cyriel Kolawole Dessers, was not invited after being capped in this month’s friendly.

The Super Eagles take on the Leone Stars at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City on Friday, 13th November before flying to Freetown for the return game on Tuesday, 17th November at the Siaka Stevens Stadium.

Full List:

Goalkeepers: Daniel Akpeyi (Kaizer Chiefs, South Africa); Sebastian Osigwe (FC Lugano, Switzerland); Maduka Okoye (Sparta Rotterdam, The Netherlands)

Defenders: Kenneth Omeruo (CD Leganes, Spain); Leon Balogun (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland); Chidozie Awaziem (FC Boavista, Portugal); William Ekong (Watford FC, England); Olaoluwa Aina (Fulham FC, England); Jamilu Collins (SC Padeborn 07, Germany); Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (West Bromwich Albion, England); Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal); Kevin Akpoguma (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, Germany)

Midfielders: Oghenekaro Etebo (Galatasaray, Turkey); Tyronne Ebuehi (FC Twente, Netherlands); Frank Onyeka (FC Midtjylland, Denmark); Joseph Ayodele-Aribo (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland)

Forwards: Ahmed Musa (NIL); Alex Iwobi (Everton FC, England); Emmanuel Dennis Bonaventure (Club Brugge, Belgium); Moses Simon (FC Nantes, France); Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal FC, Spain); Victor Osimhen (Napoli FC, Italy); Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City, England); Chidera Ejuke (CSKA Moscow, Russia)

Standby: Francis Uzoho (APOEL Nicosia, Cyprus); Samson Tijani (TSV Hartberg, Austria); Abdullahi Shehu (Omonia Nicosia, Cyprus); Ramon Azeez (Granada CF, Spain); Kelechi Nwakali (SD Huesca, Spain); Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Heartland FC); Paul Onuachu (KRC Genk, Belgium)

October 30, 2020
Rohr calls up 21 old faces, 4 new faces to Super Eagles [Full list]

Super Eagles’ Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr, has called up 25 players ahead of October’s friendly matches against the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire and the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia, scheduled for Austria.

Ademola Olajire, the Director of Communications, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), disclosed in a statement on Monday in Abuja that five other players have been put on standby.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the friendlies are the three-times African champions’ first games this year, as a result of the prolonged global coronavirus pandemic.

Rohr has listed the team’s top names such as Ahmed Musa, Kenneth Omeruo, William Ekong and Wilfred Ndidi, as well as new brooms Frank Onyeka and Chidera Ejuke.

Former FIFA Under-17 World Cup-winning goalkeeper Dele Alampasu returns to the group, as well as midfielder Mikel Agu.

Captain of the most recent Nigeria under-17 squad, Samson Tijani, will join up with the elite, as well as Portugal-based exciting wing-back Zaidu Sanusi.

Goalkeeper Maduka Okoye, now in The Netherlands, is heading to Austria for the games, just as England-based forward Kelechi Iheanacho also returns.

Victor Osimhen, now in Italy with Napoli, and another former U17 World Cup winner Samuel Chukwueze are also called up.

The Super Eagles, now ranked 29^th in the world and third in Africa, will take on the Elephants on Oct. 9.

They will four days later engage the Carthage Eagles, who are second in Africa in the rankings.

Both games have been arranged by the NFF to prepare the Super Eagles for the next rounds of 2022 AFCON qualifiers, home and away against Sierra Leone in November.

THE FULL LIST

Goalkeepers: Dele Alampasu (FK Ventspils, Latvia); Matthew Yakubu (SKF Sered, Slovakia); Maduka Okoye (Sparta Rotterdam, The Netherlands)

Defenders: Kenneth Omeruo (CD Leganes, Spain); Leon Balogun (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland); Chidozie Awaziem (FC Boavista, Portugal); William Ekong (Udinese FC, Italy); Olaoluwa Aina (Fulham FC, England); Jamilu Collins (SC Padeborn 07, Germany); Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (West Bromwich Albion, England); Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal)

Midfielders: Mikel Agu (Vitoria Guimaraes, Portugal); Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City, England); Frank Onyeka (FC Midtjylland, Denmark); Oghenekaro Etebo (Galatasary SK, Turkey); Samson Tijani (TSV Hartberg, Austria)

Forwards: Ahmed Musa (Al Nassr, Saudi Arabia); Alex Iwobi (Everton FC, England); Victor Osimhen (SSC Napoli, Italy); Moses Simon (FC Nantes, France); Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal FC, Spain); Cyril Dessers (KRC Genk, Belgium)

Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City, England); Samuel Kalu (Girondins Bordeaux, France); Chidera Ejuke (CSKA Moscow, Russia)

Standby: Abdullahi Shehu (Bursaspor, Turkey); Ramon Azeez (Granada CF, Spain); Joshua Maja (Girondins Bordeaux, France); Henry Onyekuru (AS Monaco, France); Tyronne Ebuehi (FC Twente, Netherlands)

September 21, 2020
Ikpeba urges Rohr to invite Arsenal star Saka

Former Nigeria international Victor Ikpeba has advised coach Gernot Rohr to invite Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka to the Super Eagles.

The 18-year-old, who has been with the Gunners since he was seven years old, has been turning heads since making his first-team debut in 2018 under Unai Emery, impressing with his dribbling skills, trickery and eye for a killer pass.

Saka continued with his awe-inspiring form in Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City – his 23rd appearance in the English top-flight this term.

“Watching the Arsenal versus Leicester City game and I think Gernot Rohr should invite Bukayo Saka to the Super Eagles camp once the paperwork have been concluded,” Ikpeba tweeted.

July 8, 2020
Why I allowed renewal of Super Eagles Coach, Gernot Rohr’s contract – Sports Minister

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development Mr. Sunday Dare, on Sunday, revealed why he consented to the
renewal of Gernot Rohr’s contract.

The minister in a statement by his Senior Special Media Adviser, Mr. Joshua Akanji, said the Super Eagles coach’s contract was renewed because he deserved to be given the right of first refusal.

However, the sports minister added that it would not be business as usual.

He insisted that the coach would be held to a higher depth of responsibility, a greater depth of technicality, and a greater level of success where he could have his contract reviewed if he falls short of the direction outlined in the terms of his new contract.

Before the contract between the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, and Gernot Rohr was renewed, speculations were rife that the minister of sports wasn’t favorably disposed to the contract renewal.

At a point, former England Manager, Harry Redknapp was linked with the Super Eagles job.

However, the Minister said he was not averse to the contract extension but insisted that Nigerians must get results if the coach is to remain in charge of the national team.

He said “The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is statutorily in charge of the growth and development of football in Nigeria under the supervision of the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

“Even before I became Minister, there are processes and procedures that are followed when it comes to bringing on a new national coach or renewing the contract of a coach who is already in the house and I think it was important for us to follow the processes and procedures in place.

“For Rohr, because he had been signed on earlier, he deserved to be given the right of first refusal, that was what the NFF did and that was what I also allowed to happen.

“It is best practices, it is global practices but the NFF also had a review of his performance in the last three to four years and based on that review, his new contract had new conditions that never existed before.

“Some of them bordering on the mode of payment, some of them bordering technical issues regarding the development of our football, and that to me is fundamental.”

June 1, 2020
Gernot Rohr accepts NFF pay cut, reveals two other offers

Gernot Rohr has agreed the fresh terms included in his new contract by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for him to remain as the Super Eagles coach.

Rohr’s current contract runs out at the end of June and both parties are keen to continue their working relationship which started in 2016.

Earlier this month, NFF President Amaju Pinnick revealed the details in the new contract with the ex-Bordeaux manager expected to receive his salary in naira and also reside in Nigeria.

Few days after receiving the federation’s proposal, Rohr disclosed he has accepted the conditions, and he also agreed to lower his salary in order to achieve his mission in the West African country.

“I never talk about my contract in public, as you know,” he told ESPN.

“But I heard like everybody what was said by President [Amaju] Pinnick, that I have to accept to be paid in naira, and I have to be resident in Nigeria. I agree to these two things, and even I agree to have a lower salary.

“I am not doing my job for money. I am doing my job because I like it. Because we have built a team like you know, and money is not the most important. But I also have to look after my assistants.

“I accept because I think that my mission in Nigeria is not finished yet, and I know very well my players. I know very well the officials. We are now just like a family, and I think it is good to continue especially in this period now where it is difficult to change, to travel, to see new people.”

Rohr’s answer to the proposal goes with amendments, and he awaits the NFF’s response to it.

While he waits, the 66-year-old said he has two job offers he has not replied to, pending the final draft of his Nigeria contract.

“If the answer I give with some little changes in my contract is positive, I will continue,” he added.

“If not, I have to see what they give me because I have still the requests from two other federations. I received it – they are waiting for my answer – but I will take my time to give the NFF to make the final draft before I answer them.”

April 30, 2020