George Aluo
A former Super Eagles hitman, Julius Aghahowa has declared that Gernot Rohr should look in the direction of home based players as he continues his build up to the Egypt 2019 Nations Cup.
Aghahowa, who was Nigeria’s top scorer at the 2002 Nations Cup, said Rohr can not afford not to have home lads in his plans, insisting that there are some quality players plying their trade in the Nigerian professional league.
“I think Rohr should look inwards for one or two home based players. We have quality players at home that can make his final squad to Egypt, where I think the Eagles would do well,” Aghahowa said.
He further charged Rohr not to keep experimenting with too many new players as he has to begin now to perfect strategies for the Nations Cup proper.
“We are virtually through with the qualifiers with just one more game to play. Rohr should not continue to experiment. He should concentrate now on those he is taking to Egypt. Even if he is going to invite fresh legs, it should be just a few players and as I said earlier, he can look home ward to beef up the squad.”
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He was however quick to say that the Nations Cup in Egypt, would be full of surprises as virtually all the countries that are storming the North African country for the soccer showpiece would be coming there, determined to win.
“Yes, we have a chance to win it, because we have a very young and solid team, but watch out for surprises in Egypt. You can see from the qualifiers that there are no more minnows in African football. For us, the challenge is to prepare well and for everybody to support the team, the manager, Rohr, who to me is doing a good job and the soccer federation. Everybody must be on the same page,” Aghahowa said.