From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Nigeria former international, Austin Eguavoen, has said that it would be very difficult to predict the extent the Super Eagles could go in the 2018 Russia FIFA World Cup until the draws are out on Friday.
He told Daily Sunsports on telephone that though the current assembled squad has shown promises of greatness in the qualifying matches and the friendly against Argentina, the draws would be the major determinant of how far the team could go in Russia.
Asked if the team is on course for the World Cup, the former Eagles skipper and coach said: “Let us not forget that the World Cup is in June and the FIFA rules and regulations stipulates that clubs should release players two weeks before the tournament.
Yes, we are together, but before we can assemble a team, it is going to be one month before the World Cup shortly after the European season ends.”
“The good thing however is that there are windows each country can play international friendly matches and I will say that so far so good because we are not lacking in those friendly matches.
I don’t think there is anything to worry about for me and if there is anything to say, I will say that we are on course.
The draws will hold on friday and it is then that we can now start talking about the competition.
“So, whether we have a team or not will depend on our set goals but I also know that every team that qualifiers for World Cup is not a pushover.”
“However, I can predict where the team can attain when the draws come out on Friday. It is the group we find ourselves that can determine how far we can go in the World Cup,” he said.
Speaking further, the former Dream Team chief coach argued that; “Judging by the matches we have played since these group of boys were assembled, like Algeria home and away, Cameroon, a good test which they scaled, Zambia and even Argentina friendly, we will say the team has passed good test. However, it will be difficult to place the team until we play other big teams that we can say with closed eyes that we can win World Cup.”
On whether his comment means passing vote of confidence to Rohr, he said: “Sincerely speaking, the test he passed against Cameroon and Argentina was enough to give any coach confidence. Considering the results he has gotten which matters to many people, I will say that he has tried but we also have to wait until we play more friendly matches to give us a clearer picture of how far we can go.”