Head coach of the Super Eagles, Gernot Rohr has cautioned Nigerians to cease the call for new players to be invited to the national team for the upcoming AFCON qualifiers, insisting that his side already posses quality players.
The three-time African champions will face Republic of Benin and Lesotho in March but the 67-year-old Franco-German, who is aware of the importance of both games has revealed that new player would be invited.
Rohr, also debunked reports insinuating that eligible Nigerian youngsters, who have continued to grab headlines, owing to their blistering form for their various European clubs have all been cleared to represent the Super Eagles.
“You can read so many names in the newspaper, but that’s not the best way to select the players. The best way to select the players is to scout them very well, and also to speak to them if there is motivation to come. If they want to come, they have to write a letter to Fifa that they want to switch from England or Germany or Austria to Nigeria and it’s not easy for them to make that choice,” Rohr told media.
“But we have some players in view, one of them wrote a letter already. I saw a list the other day in the media which was fake news.
“So, for the moment, we have our players, and it is not the best moment to bring in new players when we only have one or two training sessions to prepare for a match.
“When you come into a team for the first time, you need a little time to adapt and to take your place in the group. I hope that we can find better players, but we already have good players.
“The best players, only the best players can come. We already have good ones, so if you want to come in, you need time to adapt, you cannot come on Tuesday and play with your new teammates on Wednesday.
“So, let’s work on it quietly and not publicly. We welcome players better than the ones we have, we have good players already, there is a big concurrence in the striking position now, so this is not the position to invite new players because we don’t have the time before these two last matches in the qualifiers.”
The Super Eagles are leading Group L with eight points and a win in either of their matches next month will seal their place in the continental showpiece while defeat in both games will halt their target of playing in the competition.
