Rohr – Super Eagles will have difficult year 2022
Rohr – Super Eagles will have difficult year 2022
Following the postponement of the 2021 Afcon, the 67-year-old tactician thinks 2022 might be strenuous for the three-time African champions
Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr has predicted a difficult year for the Super Eagles if they qualify for the Fifa World Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations, both in 2022.
The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the global football calendar with the Confederation of African Football (Caf) postponing several competitions, including the 2021 Afcon for health and safety reasons.
The continental tournament, initially scheduled to hold between June and July in 2021, has been moved to January 2022 with Cameroon still the host country.
The Super Eagles have commenced their qualification campaign for the tournament, and they currently are at the top of Group L ahead of Sierra Leone, Benin and Lesotho with six points after two matches.
With the next World Cup tournament in Qatar set to take place in the winter of 2022, the German coach said the hectic qualifying schedule in 2021 might affect the team the following year.
“The Africa Cup of Nations is postponed. It’s the same for everyone so it’s not a drawback,” Rohr told Girondins4ever.
“We have more time to prepare as well as for other countries. We can continue the play-offs and start the World Cup qualifiers at the same time.
“But it will be a difficult 2022 year because already in 2021, there are a lot of qualifying matches to play for the team.
“I think we will have time to play a few friendlies. In the year 2022, if we have qualified for the World Cup and the Afcon, there will be many, many games to play.
“So it will certainly be a difficult year.”
In May, Rohr agreed a two-and-half-year contract extension with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to continue as the Super Eagles coach until December 2022.
Included in the new deal is a mandate for the former Bordeaux manager to qualify for the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar and also win Afcon, after helping them win bronze in Egypt last year.