The sudden news of Gernot Rohr’s dismissal as Super Eagles coach a few days before the start of the AFCON tournament in Cameroon could be the biggest news of the Nigerian Football Federation this year.
Rohr was fired on Sunday December 12 with the former Nigerian international, Austin Eguavoen, replacing Franco-German, albeit provisionally.
Although the writing was on the wall that Rohr would be leaving sooner or later, many felt that he would still be allowed to take the Eagles to Cameroon before a final decision was made.
Rohr, the longest-serving coach in Nigerian soccer history, was hired in 2016 after the Eagles failed to qualify for back-to-back editions of the African Cup of Nations (2015 and 2017).
He was able to qualify Nigeria for the World Cup and AFCON in 2018 and 2019 respectively. As it stands, Eguavoen could be in charge of the Eagles in Cameroon; making him the first interim coach to lead Nigeria to a major competition. However, the new coach may not have enough time to choose his best players.
A shakeup will ensue as some players lose favor with the Nigerian coach. This is a new waiver for the Eagles after 10 years of many ups and downs.
Águilas in the last 10 years (2011-2021) Participation of local players:
Giving opportunities to practicing players on the national scene has steadily diminished in recent years and the Keshi era remains undoubtedly the golden age for local players.
The Keshi era
The squad under the deceased Stephen keshi or the Big Boss as some called him had touches of local players. According to statistics, from the 2011 World Cup to 2014 in Brazil, the Super Eagles had a minimum 15 percent inclusion of local players.
During the 2011-2013 World Cup Qualifiers, around nine local players played with the late Stephen Keshi.
Chigozie Agbim AFCON QualifiersBench2012-09-09 00:00:00 (Liberia vs Nigeria) OboboanaAFCON Qualifiers902012-09-09 00:00:00 (Liberia vs Nigeria) EgwuekweAFCON Qualifiers902012-09-09 00:00:00 (Liberia vs Nigeria) Ejike UzoenyiAFCON Qualifiers902012-09-09 00:00:00 (Liberia vs Nigeria) Henry UcheAFCON QualifiersBench2012-09-09 00:00:00 (Liberia vs Nigeria) EgwuekweAFCON Qualifiers902012-10-13 00:00:00 (Nigeria vs Liberia) Godfrey Oboboana AFCON Qualifiers902012-10-13 00:00:00 (Nigeria vs Liberia) AFCON Qualifiers Izu Azuka902012-10-13 00:00:00 (Nigeria vs Liberia)
AFCON 2013 had the brilliance of local players with excellent performances from the duo of Godfrey Oboboana and Sunday Mba.
The 2013 squad featured six local players from the 23-man squad at AFCON, which amounted to 26 percent. However, only three players (Godfrey Oboboana, Sunday Mba and Ejike Uzoenyi) had playing time in the competition.
Soccer fans will never forget Mba’s crucial goals against Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso in the quarter-finals and final, respectively.
The 2014 World Cup also featured the inclusion of four local players representing 17 percent. However, only two players (Ejike Uzoenyi and Reuben Gabriel) played for the Eagles, but the numbers have been shrinking since then.
After the 2014 World Cup, at least six local players (Paul Onobi, Ezenwa Ikechukwu, Bature Godwin Obaje, Adekunle Adeleke, Chima Akas and Anayo Iwuala) have had the opportunity to participate in the Super Eagles matches in both Cups. of the world. and AFCON Qualifiers under the direction of coaches such as Sunday Oliseh and Gernot rohr.
Qualifying matches for the World Cup and AFCON under Sunday Oliseh
CAF Classification May 9, 2015
Tanzania vs Nigeria
Name Minutes played Solomon Kwambe90 Ikechukwu EzenwaBench
World Cup rankings 13 / November / 2015 and 17 / November / 2015
Swaziland vs Nigeria
Name Minutes played Paul OnobiBench Orji OkagbueBench Austin OboroakpoBench Chima AkasBench Ikechukwu EzenwaBench
Nigeria vs Swaziland
Name Minutes played Paul Onobi90 Orji OkagbueBench Austin Oboroakpo90 Chima Akas86 Ikechukwu EzenwaBench
The World Cup and AFCON under Gernot Rohr in 2018 and 2019 saw only one local player, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, feature in a game in the World Playoffs. But he did not record any minutes during the period that Nigeria lasted in the competitions proper.
AFCON and the World Cup Qualifiers in 2020 and 2021 saw three local players (John Noble, Anayo Iwuala and Adekunle Adeleke).
The participation percentages of local players in the qualifiers and the big tournaments of Gernot Rohr from 2017 to 2021 are 3%, 4.3%, 4.3%, 5.5% and 13.5%.
A sports analyst and media officer for one of the Nigerian teams by age, Andrew Randa, in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES explained why there is an obvious lack of local players in the national team assignments.
Advertisements
He said: “First of all, I think it’s a two-way thing, Keshi played in the league in Nigeria and understands the terrain.
Rohr is not Nigerian and he doesn’t understand the terrain and he didn’t play for the Super Eagles. ” Randa also spoke about lack of patience and finances as major problems in developing local players.
He said: “The second part is that I’m not sure we have the kind of patience that we had between 2011 and 2013 for Keshi to be able to control his local players at camp and try to get players off the field. boys at home.
“I’m not sure the NFF has that kind of money for regular camps or even the patience of the NFF and Nigerians in general.
Because Keshi was one of us, he was allowed to do certain things. He even participated in certain things that he did, unfortunately for a foreign coach, I’m not sure we’re going to have that kind of patience with him. “
Could it be our League?
In his reaction, sports journalist Paul Bassey said that the development of football in Nigeria is unstable.
According to the Akwa United president, beyond football, many things are not right in many other sectors of Nigeria.
“Do we have a problem with our economy? Do we have problems with our policy?
Is there stability?
“It is a systemic problem. When our country is not well managed, how do you expect football to be perfect?
“We are playing soccer on poor fields; umpires are not up to the standards of development. The players are tired. ”“ The environment can’t make your football perfect, so who do you blame?
“How many coaches have the necessary qualifications in terms of improvement?”
Asked the head of Akwa United while talking to PREMIUM TIMES.
Eagles performances in major competitions in the last 10 years
The Super Eagles have been able to participate in two editions of the World Cup and AFCON 2011-2021 under the direction of two coaches, Stephen Keshi and Gernot Rohr.
Keshi won the AFCON in 2013 and reached the knockout stage of the World Cup in 2014.
The Super Eagles’ winning ratio in both competitions (AFCON and World Cup) was 65% and 25%, respectively.
The 2018 and 2019 World Cup and AFCON with Gernot Rohr had win rates of 33.3 percent and 71.4 percent, respectively.
The Super Eagles failed to reach the AFCON final in 2019 after a late free kick by Riyad Mahrez sentenced Nigeria to third place with Tunisia.
According to Randa on the Eagles’ performances in major competitions in the last 10 years, only Clemence Westerhof comes close to the exploits of the late Keshi.
“But in terms of trophies, Keshi was better and in terms of games, Rohr has been better than anyone else in Nigeria, it has been the same amount of time that has passed. The win ratio is better, only Westerhof came close to him on that score. If we talk about a trophy, I’ll take Keshi, at the end of the day we don’t qualify for the next National Cup, “Randa told PREMIUM TIMES.
He continued: “Rohr has managed to qualify for two National Cups and with the World Cup and a game to spare, he didn’t make it to the second round of the World Cup like Keshi did.
“Keshi made it to the second round of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, so we can give it to Keshi.
As for the win rate, though, Rohr has done more. He has the best win ratio for a Nigerian coach. “
What should we expect from AFCON?
On what to expect in Cameroon, Randa said: “I have lowered my expectations. I don’t expect much, if they win I would be very surprised. I think they can qualify in the group, but the quarter-finals will be a bit difficult.
ALSO READ: Rohr needs to shut up and do his job-Minister
“Now it’s a 24-team round, so there will be a second round. Maybe they could go to the second round, I don’t know. “
The sports analyst also added that: “It is a transition period for the team, due to the crisis; a third place might be fine. It is going to be a big task for the players to do something appreciable in Cameroon. Personally, I have lowered my expectations. I want them to get it right based on the reality on the ground, and this is a competition where they will simply try to be a transitional period as we prepare to head to the world cup.
“I’ll be happy if they win the trophy, but it’s a bit far off.”
For his part, former Nigerian goalkeeper Ike Shorunmu, while speaking to PREMIUM TIMES, said that the current squad cannot be compared to the 2013 AFCON winners.
He added that most of the foreign players did not abandon the foreign mentality to adapt to that of Africa during African competitions.
“Don’t go too far, you can’t compare the performance of 2013 with that of the current team. When you play African football, you have to behave like an African.
“I have tried both Africa and Europe and what I used to tell our players when I was still with the late Stephen Keshi is that when you come from Europe you drop about 85 percent of the European mindset and bring only 15 percent. cent to join the African mindset. The African tournament is totally different ”.