…Ex-internationals fault Rohr on non-invitation of home-based players
Nigerians have kicked against Gernot Rohr’s recent submission that he would no longer invite local players for Super Eagles’ qualification matches in the runup to the FIFA World Cup in Russia.
The Franco-German had said only foreign-based professionals will be opportune to lace their boots for Nigeria, saying that the local players will be used for the CHAN tournament alone.
The coach made good his promise when he invited some players recently for the friendly international against Senegal and Burkina Faso in London without naming a player from the nation’s domestic league.
This is besides the fact that the coach also shunned the array of stars plying their trade in China, including the Eagles skipper, John Mikel Obi and some other players who are still relevant to the World Cup campaign.
In separate telephone chats with our correspondent, former international, John Etim Esin, former Super Eagles coach, Austin Eguavoen and former Under-23 Assistant coach, Henry Nwosu, urged Rohr to have a change of heart, by encouraging the local players to play in the Super Eagles.
“It is the dream of every player to play in the senior team at the World Cup level but their dreams could only come true if the national team coach invites them for trials. Most of us were given the opportunity and we made good use of it. The biggest names in Nigerian football were products of the local league. Since our league is improving now, we need to test some players and help them to graduate into the Super Eagles,” Esin said.
On his part, Eguavoen argued that since the clubs failed in their CAF Champions League outings, it means local players have all failed with their clubs.
“The success of local clubs in the continental outing, says a lot about the products of local league. If our clubs are in great shape, it would reflect in the performances of local players. Rohr may have seen that there is no exceptional player in these clubs, going by how all the two teams in the CAF Champions League crashed at once. However, we need to encourage and give them sense of belonging,” he said.
Nwosu stated that it does appear that Rohr only believes in players who will deliver at once without much stress. He, however, said that he will not blame him for taking such step.
“So far we are happy he has not slipped. He has been so lucky; we are at the top of the table. Let’s allow him to continue with his programme. What we want is the World Cup ticket and he is about to deliver it to us. As far as I am concerned, Rohr is doing well. We should encourage him,” he said.
