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| GERNOT ROHR |
On Sunday, the Super Eagles won three valuable points on the road in Zambia and welcome Algeria to Uyo next month.
They lead their qualifying group after Algeria were forced to a 1-1 draw by Cameroon in Blida.
“I think we need 11 points to be first of the group, but all the teams have a good chance to qualify (for the World Cup),” the experienced Rohr said at a press briefing.
“We all know that it is very difficult to win a game in the qualifiers especially away in the first game. But we did it.”
The Franco-German further said that despite the Eagles winning start, they need to improve before a November 12 clash against Algeria in Uyo.
“We have a lot of work to do. We have some problems and we have to be better in some situations defensively and even offensively we tried too much to play (vs Zambia). We did not shoot but we got the three points and welcome Algeria in a month in Uyo,” he said.
Rohr said Sunday’s game was one of two halves with Nigeria dominating in the first 45 minutes, while the home team took charge after the interval.
“It was a good game of football, both teams wanted to win. In the first half we got what we hoped for, we played well and we scored,” he remarked.
“In second half, Zambia were the better team and that reflected in this match – first half for us, second half for them.
“We were a bit tired in the second half because of a lot of physical effort in the first half. The players ran very much, hot weather, 2.30pm in the afternoon, it’s not easy to play in the sun and in the second half, the wind blew in favour of the home team.
“They pushed, pushed and they scored and could have been 2-2, but we defended well because spirit of the team is very good, we supported each other.”Meanwhile, Zambia skipper Rainford Kalaba has admitted some of the players were intimidated by the several Nigeria stars who play in the Premier League in England and this caused their loss Sunday.
Zambia lost for the first time in Ndola with Premier League stars Alex Iwobi and Kelechi Iheanacho scoring for Nigeria in the first half.
The other Premier League stars on the squad were Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi, Ahmed Musa from Leicester City and Brown Ideye, who has previously featured for West Bromwich Albion.
Kalaba revealed these stars scared some of his colleagues.
“Playing against experienced players based in Europe, some of the guys were scared of playing against them because they always watch them every weekend in the Premier league and when they see them live, it is often difficult for them to concentrate on the game,” reasoned the TP Mazembe star who posted a short-lived stint in Portugal many years ago.
“In the first half some of the guys were a bit scared, but in the second half we all saw how things went and we controlled the game.
“There are even more stars in Algeria and Cameroon, so this must be big lesson for us.”
Kalaba further said of his impression of Nigeria,” We respect Nigeria because they have some good players.
“They have some experienced players in the midfield and they were well organised.”
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| Rohr and his Assistants |
The exciting forward said the pressure will now be on the Chipolopolo to get their qualifying campaign back on track.
“Losing our first game has brought more pressure on us, but we hope to improve,” he admitted.
“We are all very disappointed we lost at home because it was important to start (this competition) well.
“We still have time to work together with the coach so that we that we could rectify the mistake we have made.”
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