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| Super Eagles Coach, Gernot Rohr |
• TGI Group wants Eagles to end qualifying series with
victory
Super Eagles Coach,
Gernot Rohr has revealed that the different shades of injury to some of his key
stars has given him the opportunity to try new players in Nigeria’s Russia 2018
World Cup qualifier against Algeria.
The
Guardian Nigeria report continues:
Algeria
hosts the Super Eagles in Constantine tomorrow, but the Nigerian side, which
has already qualified for the World Cup, will be without such influential stars
as Ogenyi Onazi, Odion Ighalo, Mikel Agu, Victor Moses, Elderson Echiejile and
Moses Simon.
In
a video interview posted in the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) twitter
account, Rohr he was more interested in the performance of the new players than
in the result of the match.
“This
is an opportunity for us to see some players who didn’t play so much during the
qualifiers. We have six injuries, which means that we will have at least six
changes.”
Despite
the fact that Algeria has nothing but pride to play for tomorrow, Rohr still
acknowledges the quality in the North African side, but he promised to give
them a good fight.
“We
know Algeria can be very aggressive. They have one of the best African players
in Mahrez and there is also Slimani, among others. So, it will be interesting
to know how the new boys will perform against such tough opposition,” he said.
Nigeria
will meet Argentina in an international friendly in Russia four days after
playing Algeria and Rohr believes that game is a different test entirely.
He
still believes Argentina will be a tough proposition despite the absence of
Barcelona star, Lionel Messi, saying it will show the character of some of the
players at his disposal.
“We
have only three days to prepare for Algeria, but we will have the opportunity
of seeing everybody in the second game, which is fantastic because Argentina is
one of the best teams in the world, with perhaps the best player in the world
(Messi). So, we can see what they are able to do against a South American team
if we have them in our group in the World Cup.’’
Nigeria Is A Team
Of Benchwarmers, Says Rabah Madjer
Algeria’s
new coach, Rabah Madjer has described the Super Eagles as a team of
benchwarmers, which has only one regular player in its squad.
Speaking
ahead of tomorrow’s 2018 World Cup qualifier against Nigeria, Madjer, who was
one of the stars of the great Algerian side of the 1980s, said the Super Eagles
should not pose any threat to the North Africans because it is a team with many
players who don’t get to play for their European clubs.
“I
have studied the Nigerian team, apart from Iwobi, every other player is mostly
a substitute for his team in Europe, but that doesn’t mean they will not be at
the level to face us.
“The game against Nigeria is not a friendly match for me…to me it is the first game of the qualifiers for the 2018 African Cup of Nations in Cameroun,” he said.
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