Gernot Rohr was thrown up again and again. After the decisive 1-0 win over Zambia, the 64-year-old coach’s players rejoiced. With a big smile on his face and a small Nigeria flag in his right hand, Rohr was happily walking over the tartan track at Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo. The globetrotter had just led the 1996 Olympic champion to his sixth World Cup participation.
No wonder that his contract was extended until 2020 at the end of November. “He has done his job very well and now doesn’t have to go to the World Cup in uncertainty about his future,” said association president Amaju Pinnick.
Super Eagles are permanent guests of the World Cup
The Super Eagles, who failed France 2-0 in the Round of 16 in Brazil, are permanent guests at the World Cup. Since 1994, the Super Eagles have only been missing at the 2006 finals in Germany. Nigeria made it to the round of 16 three times.
But this success could not be foreseen. When Rohr took up his fourth engagement as national coach in Africa in August 2016 (after Gabon, Niger and Burkina Faso), he had a huge mountain of work ahead of him. Five months earlier, Nigeria surprisingly missed qualifying for the 2017 Africa Cup as 2013 Champion. The proven Africa expert, who lives in France and owns a hotel in Lege-Cap-Ferret, had to create new structures, establish a suitable game philosophy and act as a mediator between the association, the Ministry of Sport and the stars working abroad.
Rohr rewarded himself with his first World Cup participation and is the second German head coach at the tournament in Russia, alongside national coach Joachim Löw. Nigeria were the first African team to qualify for the World Cup confidently and without defeat. Rohr lost only one of eleven games as Nigerian national coach: The already insignificant last game of the messed up Africa Cup qualification against South Africa (0:2).
For game designer John Obi Mikel, who has already played in Brazil and currently works for Tianjin Teda in China, the tournament in Russia is something special: “I am proud to be captain of this team. My wife is Russian. “You and our children will be cheering for us at the World Cup.” In addition to Mikel, Alex Iwobi (Arsenal FC), Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City) and Victor Moses (Chelsea FC) are top performers. Mainz central defender Leon Balogun is an undisputed regular under the gun. The odds are good for the” Super Egales” to reach the second round means bettingsites.ng.
African champions Cameroon were beaten 4-0 in World Cup qualifying. In mid-November, captain Mikel’s team, the former Chelsea midfielder, turned a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 victory in a test match against runners-up Argentina. With the exception of their missing superstar Lionel Messi, the South Americans played in their strongest line-up.
During this match, the Nigerian football association NFF announced the agreement in the discussion about the player bonuses due for qualifying for the World Cup. At the 2014 World Cup, there had still been fierce disagreements about the premium payments. These culminated in a training strike of the players. After all, the Nigerian sports minister had to come to Brazil and distribute four million US dollars in cash among the players. At the insistence of Rohr, this problem was also solved in time this time. 2.4 million dollars were set as a premium for qualifying for Russia. Further funds are still to flow. More details about the world cup you can find under www.russland-wm2018.de.