From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Super Eagles technical adviser, Gernot Rohr has revealed that since there is no special player in the mode or class of La Liga world-class duo of Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo among the Eagles players, the only option left for him would be to build a squad that is team based, not individual talent.
Speaking in Abuja recently, Rohr maintained that though he had no doubt that the team had the quality to pick the group B sole ticket for the 2018 Russia FIFA World Cup, it would, however, be risky to build the team around individual players.
His words: “After prosecuting the first match, I like the spirit and cooperation among the players during the camping. They did very well even though we were not too sharp in front of goal. A team, which had over 15 scoring chances and only converted one should give one concern.
“I equally saw some promising players who did very well but what we will do is not to build a team around any player. I saw players like Mikel and Iheanacho among others played very well but since we don’t have players in the mood of Messi or Ronaldo, we will have to build a team based on the assemblage of these individual talents,” Rohr quipped.
Re-emphasising that the players convinced him at the Nest of Champions stadium in Akwa-Ibom that they have the quality to pick World Cup ticket, he said: “Well, with what I have seen so far, I have every reason to believe that but the best thing is to give them is the confidence to play well, score goals and win games.
“I am sure that we have a good team that go to Zambia and win the game. However, I want to appeal that we go there in solidarity. The spirit is okay in the first week and I felt it. All I want is for the spirit to continue that way,” he said.