Super
Eagles foreign coach has opened up on what he considers to be the
secret of the success recorded by Nigeria's national team in recent
times.
Gernot Rohr
German tactician, Gernot Rohr, has
certainly made a name for himself within the one year and few months in
Nigeria handling the Super Eagles. He did not only qualify the team for
the 2018 Russia FIFA World Cup but also did it in style.
He has set record as Eagles technical adviser to pick the ticket
even before the last round of group qualifier matches and equally
secured the ticket without turning Nigerian-soccer fans into emergency
mathematicians on permutation table to figure out the possibility of
their darling team qualifying.
Speaking to SundaySports in Abuja, Rohr delved into myriad of
issues especially on the secret behind the success story, his plans,
target for the World Cup, his idle team, the raging controversy over the
return of Vincent Enyeama, and essentially what he has enjoyed so much
since his arrival to Nigeria.
What has been the deepest secret behind the World Cup success story?
The only secret behind our success is work and more work. Since I
took over in August 2016, we have tried to work hard. We started with
list of young players because my target is to build a team comprising
young and few experienced players.
We worked together in harmony as a team. The players and staff have
no secret. We worked in confidence and the spirit of togetherness
really helped us. The players have good feelings and I remember it
started during our first game against Tanzania
More importantly, we made a bold statement in the victory we
secured against Zambia in the first World Cup qualifier game. As you can
see, it was such important victory because it gave us confidence and
the right direction. We did not encounter so much difficulty with the
result we got. Nobody believed we could defeat Algeria and Cameroon the
way we did and qualify even before the last game.
Which of your players impressed you the most during the whole qualifiers?
The most impressive player in the World Cup qualifier matches is
certainly Victor Moses. He really has something that other players don’t
have. He has creativity, quickness and anticipation which made him a
very special player. He really helped us so much and it is always much
more difficult for us each time he is not in the game.
Do you have a team that can do well at the World Cup?
Yes, I have a good team now but we must be better than this to do
well in Russia next year. We have big task on our hands to make the team
better. The players we have now are good players but we must work to
make them better by bringing in other good players. I just hope that
everybody will be fit during our last game next month.
The match is already two weeks away and we have to do a new
teamlist. However, I have requested for friendly matches after the
Algeria game to enable me see all these players that could not play in
the previous qualifiers. We want to allow them show that they can
equally do better than others.
What is your decision on the goalkeeper crisis?
Yes, I have to admit that the goalkeeping department really gave us
concern. At a time, Enyeama was out of the team, Carl Ikeme became ill,
Akpenyi was injured and we had to make do with our fourth choice
goalkeeper.
The brilliant idea from the football federation president to hire a
goalkeeper trainer to work more on the goalkeeper we have paid off. We
have a right foot goalkeeper coach and a left foot goalkeeper trainer.
The two coaches are complementarily good. We worked so much on
Ezenwa and even as a home-based goalkeeper he improved so much. He is
really becoming a good goalkeeper and he did well against Cameroon and
now Zambia.
He is now a better goalkeeper than before. We will see how we can
continue to improve on the department because it is a very sensitive
one. I need the help of the technical staff to overcome this problem not
only the goalkeeping department but also the entire team. We need to
keep tab on everybody to see their progresses.
Are we likely to see Vincent and Ikeme back in the team for the World Cup?
Unfortunately, Vincent is currently injured but we have kept a good
communication with him. It is not only me but also other members of the
technical department. The most important thing is for him to first find
a club in January window to be fit first.
We will look at the best players and there is no other criterion
more than having the best players. I also want them to be in high
spirit. I want to see the spirit of quality work and respect for the
backroom staff.
Are you thinking of using new players to prosecute the last qualifier game against Algeria?
Well, it is a possibility to use the opportunity to see some of the
players we have not seen so much of them. We have players like John
Ogu, Nwakeme, Ola Aina, among others. It will be good to use the game to
look at them very well but we are also conscious of getting good FIFA
ranking ahead of the World Cup draws in December 1.
Resting super regular players is a possibility but we are also
looking at the possibility of finishing the qualifiers without losing a
match. It will be wonderful to play six World Cup qualifier matches
without losing any. However, I still want to have the key players in
this game because we really want to finish well.
That does not mean we will not look into the possibility of testing
new players. We want to keep our fingers crossed because anything can
happen within one month. Some may be fit while others may not. The
China-based players have matches on November 4 and what it means is that
they don’t have two weeks as they had against Cameroon.
I am thinking that the trip will be very long for them and time
very short for them to recover for the tie against Algeria, We don’t
want to take any risk of injury with the players. It is possible that it
will be difficult for the China-based players to be part of the game.
Are you also considering more options for your defenceline especially Echiejile?
I think we have to look at what happened on the pitch of play. We
have to admit that Echiejile did not do badly so far. He did very well
against Zambia and Cameroon especially against the best African players
at the AFCON.
However, I noticed that everybody is complaining about his
position. But if he is fit and playing regularly for his club, he has
that position for the moment. The good thing is that we have other
players pushing to show us that they can bench him.
What is your target at the World Cup in Russia?
My first goal now is to have a united team not only on the pitch
but also off the pitch. When I say united, I mean everybody from the
football federation to the backroom staff and every stakeholder going in
the same direction.
If we want to do something at the World Cup, we have to prepare
very well. We want everybody who wants to be part of the team to show
the same solidarity we currently have in the team. We have very good
spirit of solidarity in the team.
More importantly, we don’t want the issue of money to be a problem.
The issue of bonuses and allowances, which are the usual Africa problem
we see during the World Cup competitions, must be avoided.
Such issue would be very bad for our preparation for the
tournament. I have told my officials and the federation president that
all will be clear before the start of the competition. Then for the
target I set for the team and myself, I would say that it starts by not
getting very difficult teams in the group stage during the draws. The
second target will be to come out of the group and as we know, Nigeria
has played in the round of 16 during the last edition; it will be
wonderful playing there too.
But we must come out of the group stage first which will emerge
after the draw on December 1. It is also good I emphasise that the most
important target is to be united. We want to start early camping.
Which country are you considering for the pre-tournament camping of the team?
For me, it is very important we start the first camping in Abuja.
We have to start camping, first in the country to spend the first trench
of the budget for the World Cup on the people of Nigeria first. It will
be the best and an opportunity to thank everybody and respect the
government helping us with camping in the capital territory of the
country.
I have requested from the NFF president to start the first camping
in Abuja before going to any other place. If it is possible, we want to
also play at least a friendly game in Abuja here to enable Nigerians
watch the 23 players to make the World Cup teamlist. The match will
provide an avenue to say goodbye to the Nigerian soccer-loving fans.
Which teams do you indent to play friendly with ahead of the World Cup?
We will like to play Tunisia because they are very close to picking
the World Cup ticket. They just need only one point to qualify. It will
be wonderful to play Tunisia at their home. They have good pitches and
good weather. We will like to play them after the game against Algeria.
We will also try to play second friendly match.
Did the loss to Bafana Bafana of South Africa dent your record?
We feel so disappointed with the loss to South Africa in Uyo
because we have come to be known as a winning team. However, don’t
forget that we have the youngest team ever assembled in this country. We
have a young team of 23 average ages. They play very well in that match
but they forgot to score goals.
Without giving excuses, we did not have our key players during that
game which made the game very difficult for the young players. However,
everybody learnt from that defeat and it was really a blessing in
disguise.
It is not good to loss one game and I don’t personally like it but
the good thing is that we still have five matches to play in the Nations
Cup qualifiers to make a comeback and at worst finish second in the
group.
Our target is to win in Seychelles in our next qualifier match and
possibly win against Libya. Winning the next two games will give us six
points and take us to the first or at least the second position. So, the
defeat by the South Africa will help us to make a better preparation.
What would you consider your biggest achievement?
My biggest achievement as a coach was producing world class players
like the then young Zidane and many others that passed through me in
Bordeaux. I am really very proud of them now. Also, the Cup final in
Bordeaux when we beat AC Milan 3-0 after losing 2-0 at their home in the
first leg equally inspired me.
In fact the feeling then was like the same fantastic atmosphere we
saw in Uyo after picking the World Cup ticket last weekend. However, I
want to have another success if we do well in Russia.
After one year in Nigeria, what have you enjoyed most in the country?
I have honestly enjoyed the strong spirit and hospitality of
Nigerians. I enjoy Nigerians commending me for the good work we have
done on the team. I enjoy that atmosphere of Nigerians appreciating us.
I also enjoyed some soup delicacies especially the ones that are
not too spicy. I can specifically say that the one they call edikanekong
soup impressed me most. As for the Nigerian ladies, I don’t discuss my
affairs with them in the media.
***
Culled from The Sun News
No comments:
Post a Comment