Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has hailed goalkeeper Maduka Okoye and debutants Kevin Akpoguma and Zaidu Sanusi, after the team ’ s friendlies in Austria , but admits this will make selection of players difficult ahead of their 2022 AFCON double-header qualifier against Sierra Leone a difficult task.
The Eagles lost 1 -0 to Algeria before they were held 1 -1 by Tunisia Tuesday night in their build – up to the forthcoming AFCON double-header against Sierra Leone next month.
“ We saw confirmation in those games like the goalkeeper ( Maduka Okoye ) , the left back ( Zaidu Sanusi) and the new defender who came in to the team ( Kevin Akpoguma ) . He can play in the defence and at right back and also in the midfield as well .
“ I think the team is in a good shape and I believe these very good friendly games will help us to return to winning ways when we play Sierra Leone next month ( home and away ) .
“ Good results next month may see us qualifying for the 2022 AFCON already, ” Rohr told the Super Eagles official Youtube Page in an interview after the draw with Tunisia .
“ Now it is going to be difficult for me to pick our list for the AFCON qualifiers next month because of the new boys who did well .”
“ It was a very good training camp with the boys .
“ We are happy to have had this opportunity to be camped in Austria for 10 days . It was a very good feeling to be together again after being away for 11 months , although we missed some key players in midfield, our three goalkeepers and our goalscorer . We had to find a solution to these problems .
“ The two games were very close. It was not a friendly , they were competitive games .
“ We have some positives to pick out from the games because inspite of missing some key players we still competed well . If we had them for these games we would have won both games .
The Eagles will host the Leone Stars in Asaba on November 9 , before the two teams clash again in Freetown not later than November 17 .
Benin and Lesotho are the other teams in the group .
