NIGERIA Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr is gearing up for a second feat on-the-bounce of qualifying Nigeria’s Super Eagles for a major championship with a match to spare.
The former Germany defender equalled a 20-year old record when he led the three-time African champions to earn a slot at the 2018 Fifa World Cup finals after a 1-0 defeat of Zambia in Uyo on 10 October 2017, which scripted Nigeria’s name on the roster for Russia ahead of final match day.
Frenchman Philippe Troussier led Nigeria to qualify for the 1998 World Cup following defeat of Kenya’s Harambee Stars in Lagos, with the away match to Guinea at hand. But qualification for the 2002, 2010 and 2014 Fifa World Cup competitions were achieved on the final day of the respective series.
Rohr savoured accolades from far and near for his accomplishment, and the Franco-German appears to love it and wants more, with the Super Eagles looking good to earn a ticket to the 2019 Africa Cup finals ahead of the final day of the series.
Nigeria won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations title but then failed to qualify for the last two championships.
Victory over South Africa at FNB Stadium on Saturday will earn Rohr a worthwhile space in Nigerian Football’s history, alongside a young, ambitious squad that has grown in confidence after featuring at the World Cup and winning all three competitive games after that, scoring 10 goals and conceding only two.
“Our mission in Johannesburg is simple: qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations. We are not thinking of anything else. We want the ticket in our pocket before the final match day,” Rohr said in Asaba on Tuesday evening.
The team is expected in South Africa on Friday morning and will be flying back home on Sunday morning on a chartered flight.
The Eagles are indignant following South Africa’s audacity in flying to Uyo to earn a 2-0 win, and apart from the unspoken crave for revenge, the quiet but fierce contention between Nigeria and South Africa in other spheres has lifted Saturday’s match to higher stakes.
Ahmed Musa and team-mates, as well as Nigerian ball fans, have not forgotten how the Bafana stopped the Eagles from qualifying for the 2015 AFCON, after a 2-2 draw in Uyo on 19th November 2014 on a day the Eagles needed the slimmest of wins.
The Bafana Bafana have much to worry about.
Victories over Seychelles away and Libya home-and-away has catapulted Nigeria to top place in a pool the Bafana led comfortably, and should Nigeria win in Soweto on Saturday, the heat would be on the 1996 champions as they could be torpedoed for second ticket by the ferocious Mediterranean Knights of Libya.
BAFANA AND NIGERIA HEAD TO HEAD
10 June 2017: Nigeria 0 South Africa 2 – Uyo (AFCON Qualifier)
29 Mar 2015: South Africa 1 Nigeria 1 – Nelspruit (Friendly)
19 Nov 2014: Nigeria 2 South Africa 2 – Uyo (AFCON Qualifier)
10 Sept 2014: South Africa 0 Nigeria 0 - Cape Town (AFCON Qualifier)
19 Aug 2014: South Africa 1 Nigeria 3 – Cape Town (CHAN group stage)
11 Aug 2013: South Africa 0 Nigeria 2 – Durban (Mandela Challenge)
6 Sept 2008: South Africa 0 Nigeria 1 – Port Elizabeth (World Cup Qual.)
1 June 2008: Nigeria 2 South Africa 0 – Abuja (World Cup Qualifier)
17 Nov 2004: South Africa 2 Nigeria 1 – Jo’burg (Mandela Challenge)
31 Jan 2004: South Africa 0 Nigeria 4 – Monastir (AFCON group stage)
10 Feb 2000: Nigeria 2 South Africa 0 – Lagos (AFCON semi final)
16 Jan 1993: South Africa 0 Nigeria 0 – Jo’burg (World Cup Qualifier)
10 Oct 1992: Nigeria 4 South Africa 0 – Lagos (World Cup Qualifier)
