Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr has expressed concern over the possibility of his side being grouped together with one of Egypt, Cameroon or Tunisia for this year’s Africa Cup of Nations.
Speaking in the wake of Tuesday’s 1-0 victory against Egypt at Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba, Rohr pointed out that the Eagles could still go on to meet the AFCON 2019 hosts, as Nigeria are not among the top seeds for next month’s draw.
Sports247.ng can report that Nigeria has already been pl;aced in Pot 2 for the April 12 AFCON 2019 draw in Cairo, Egypt, despite the country still ranked 4th in Africa by FIFA, which has led Rohr staying cautious over permutations heading into the continental soccer showpiece.
Morocco, Congo DR, Guinea, Mali and Algeria are in Pot 2 with Nigeria, which means they will not face the Eagles in the first round stage of AFCON 2019, while any other country in the remaining three pots could be among their three rivals in one of six groups of four teams each.
After the first round of matches, the top two countries in each group, along with the best four third-placed nations will progress to the round of 16 knockout phase.
Although many Nigerians believe the Eagles deserve some praise, after winning two matches in five days at the stadium named in honour of the team’s former skipper and head coach, Rohr humbly submitted that his players are yet to hit peak form.
The Franco-German gaffer added that he still has to work of all areas of the team, in order to see them develop improvements before the Nations Cup in June/July, which he admits will not be easy to win.
Rohr added: “‘We can improve everywhere – behind, midfield, strikers, goalkeeper. We have to improve everywhere.
”We are not in the first pot but the second; which means we can meet Egypt, Tunisia, Cameroon in the group. We must be better than we are.”
