Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr has vowed the Super Eagles will give everything to win their Group B Russia 2018 World Cup qualifier against Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions in Uyo on August 28.The return leg takes place in Cameroon on September 2.
Nigeria sit atop the group with six points, followed by Cameroon with two points. Zambia and Algeria who are other teams in the group have one point each.
With many Nigeria fans still mourning the Eagles’ 2-0 defeat by South Africa in their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Uyo on Saturday, Rohr insisted on Tuesday that his team would subdue African champions Indomitable Lions at the same venue (Godswill Akpabio Stadium) where they were humiliated by Bafana Bafana in August.
The former Gabon coach said he would field experienced players for the World Cup qualifying double-header, saying he would not make any selection gamble in both clashes.
“South Africa met an inexperienced and younger Eagles, that is why they won the match,” the News Agency quoted the German as saying.
“We did not play with our main team, many of our experienced players were not in the match mainly due to injury, but they will be ready for Cameroon.”
The former Burkina Faso manager promised to pilot the Eagles to victories in their next five matches and called for support.
Meanwhile, sports minister Solomon Dalung has urged the Nigeria Football Federation technical committee to work with Rohr towards the country’s qualification for the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
Dalung, who met with the committee in Abuja on Tuesday to review Nigeria’s defeat by South Africa, said the Eagles needed support.
“The technical committee has what it takes to develop our football and this can be achieved when there’s a synergy between the coach and the technical committee,” the minister was quoted as saying in a statement by his media adviser Nneka Anibeze.
“You must go back to tradition because you have veered off the track. Football is a teamwork and it is the responsibility of the technical committee to plan the team’s game, monitor and execute it with the coaching staff.”