…Insists Ahmed Musa is a non-playing captain
Rohr drafts more home-based Super Eagles to face Benin and Lesotho.
Nigeria trainer Gernot Rohr is confident of picking Group L’s lone automatic ticket to the 33rd Africa Cup of Nations next year in Cameroun as the Super Eagles begin preparations for their final two fixtures in the qualifying series against Benin Republic and Lesotho
Nigeria tops the with eight points, one point ahead of closest rivals Benin and will be away to face the Squirrels at Stade Charles de Gaulle in Porto Novo on 27th March, before concluding their campaign three days later against visiting Lesotho Crocodiles at Teslim Balogun Stadium, in what would be their first official game in Lagos in a decade.
The last competitive game Nigeria played in Lagos was a 1-0 AFCON qualifiers’ win over Zambia in January 2001.
“We want to finish our qualification on a positive note, and the two matches against Benin and Lesotho are very important,” Rohr told CAFOnline.com.
“Of course, we know that Benin is difficult to beat after our last game in Uyo (Nigeria won 2-1) and we need at least a point against them to qualify for next year’s AFCON,” added the 67 years old coach.
“Then, we are playing our final game in Lagos. We want to win in Lagos because it has been a long time since we last played there, and we want to conclude the qualifiers with a victory as well.
“These are not going to be easy matches because Lesotho drew with Benin, but we are going to give our best against these opponents,” noted the former Bayern Munich defender.
Rohr told CAFOnline.com that the inclusion of Captain Musa – who has been without a club since last October when he left Saudi Arabian side Al Nasr – was strategic and mere morale booster to the three-time African champions.
