Rohr: Super Eagles will fight for Nigeria but must defend better

SUPER Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr is confident his team will be at their best on Tuesday when they face Sierra Leone for the second time in four days.

His team blew a 4-0 lead in the first of two back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against the Leone Stars in Benin.But the German expects an improved performance on Tuesday.

“The expectations are to make a good match,” he told the team’s media channel on Monday night in Freetown.

“We discovered here the conditions of the stadium, the grass and also the hot weather. The travelling was OK, a little bit long but I think we can recover for tomorrow afternoon. 

“And then of course our objective all the time is to win the game. We wanted to get four points from the two matches to be qualified and it’s still possible. I believe in my team, I think we can do that. It will be difficult like I told you before the last match. We saw in the second half that they have a good team but we can play very well; we showed it in the first 30 minutes the other day. 

“We want to play like this, our football, playing forward, scoring goals but defending better than we did in the last game.

“When asked what his message for Nigerians was, Rohr sounded upbeat.”Of course we are confident,” he said.

“They (Nigerians) can believe that the players will fight for all Nigerian supporters and they will give the best. I think we’re ready for this match. “We miss (Victor) Osimhen of course, perhaps another change in the team. But the players who have the honour to represent the country tomorrow will fight until the end of the match.”

Rohr revealed that apart from Osimhen who hurt his shoulder in Friday’s 4-4 draw, the team is fit and raring to go.

He added: “No, (we have) only the one (injury) with Osimhen. Unfortunately, we’ll miss him for a long time but other players are here to come in.”The match at the Siaka Stevens  Stadium in Freetown kicks off at 5pm Nigerian time with a Super Eagles win propelling them to the 2022 AFCON in Cameroon.