December, 14 2021.
Following the disengagement of Super Eagles’ coach Gernot Rohr, the Minister of Youth and Sports Development said it was a robust process arriving at that conclusion in a time like this.
He said; “Based on consultation and technical reviews and based on information that went back and forth through the Ministry and the NFF, the decision that was reached is in the best interest of both the Super Eagles and Nigerian football development. It was taking from the position of responsibility, so that we can begin to chart a clear path for the kind of National team that we expect to see.
“The process was very instructive, because we needed to get to the granular aspect of Rohr’s performance, as well as the performance of Super Eagles as a team, both individually and collectively within the context of our performances during the last few matches. So, I think the process that led to this final decision is a very dynamic and robust process, where we were able to separate sentiment from what needed to be done.”
He further clarified that No Country wants to send coaches away when it’s just about time for major competitions but some decisions are best taken in timely manner.
In his words, “There is also an attempt to have Local content, Eguavoen has always been around the team and we believe that a lot of our Ex internationals have a lot to offer.”
On preparations for AFCON, the Minister reacted that preparations have started from the beginning because this team had played together all along, won, lost and drawn some matches. So, the team will cope with the new coach, even though it’s 28 days to go.
According to the Minister, “We expect to see the date for camp resumption, we expect to see a preliminary list of players and we expect to see Eguavoen and his team roll out some plans as soon as possible and we expect to make sure that some of our players start coming.”