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2.1.3. 18+ DID YOU MISS THE TREND? SEE ALL 400 V!D£0 CLIPS, $£X T4P£ OF Equatorial Guinea Baltasar Ebang Engonga.With the business of qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations Cup (AFCON) to be held in Morocco concluded this week, attention would yet again be on the Super Eagles’ bid to make the party for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after missing out on the last one at Qatar 2022. But Nigeria’s chances now hang in the balance after the Super Eagles unbelievably took just three points in their opening four matches in their Group C section that houses South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, as well as Rwanda and Benin with whom they competed in the same Group D for the 2025 AFCON tickets. ...READ THE FULL STORY FROM SOURCE ↔️
In March 2025, the Super Eagles will be away to the Amavubi of Rwanda who decimated the coach Austin Eguavoen-led side last Monday in Uyo before playing host to the Warriors of Zimbabwe in must-win matches to stay on course for a place at World Cup 26.
Reflecting on his side’s qualification for AFCON 2025, Coach of The Cheetahs of Benin, Gernot Rohr, said the Super Eagles must be ready to fight their way in the qualification race for World Cup 26 in an interesting conversation with Morakinyo Abodunrin.
German coach Gernot Rohr believes the Super Eagles can still pull their chestnut from the fire in the race to secure a ticket for the FIFA World Cup 26, adding that it would be a big shame should Nigeria miss out of the biggest global football event after missing out of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Last term, Rohr has taken the Super Eagles to a touching distance of picking one of the continental tickets but was fired on the eve of the final play-off which was eventually lost to Ghana under caretaker coach Austin Eguavoen.
“They (Super Eagles) cannot afford to miss out of two consecutive FIFA World Cups and that is why I believe strongly they can still bounce back in the race for the 2026 World cup,” Rohr, who led Nigeria to her last Mundial appearance at Russia 2018, told NationSports after helping Benin to qualify for the AFCON for the first time since their last appearance in 2019.
By some strange design, Nigeria is housed with South Africa, Lesotho, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Rohr’s Benin in the CAF Group C Qualifying section with the Super Eagles marooned in fifth position with three points from their opening four matches.
After a 1-1 home draw with Lesotho on Matchday 1, the Super Eagles then drew their following two matches with an identical 1-1 score line against Zimbabwe (away) and South Africa (home) before that infamous 2-1 loss to Benin last June in Abidjan.
But giving their pedigree, the Super Eagles can still be hopeful going into the next phase of the qualification next year; with a caveat though.
“Of course, the Super Eagles can still do it (qualify for World Cup 26),” the former Bordeaux coach further said.
“There are six more games to play for each of the teams in our group and that means anything is still possible, because you have to be the first team to automatically qualify while being second can still give you a chance.
“Nigeria has the best collection of players out there but they should really be focussed if they want to qualify.
“They must have the good fighting spirit to be able to do that … they still have to go to South Africa and other difficult countries and it is not going to be easy there.
“But I think they can still do it.”
Away from the World Cup 26 battle facing the Super Eagles, 71-year-old Rohr is revelling in the joy of helping The Cheetahs of Benin to secure a ticket to the AFCON after missing out of the last two editions held in Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire, even as he slammed the approach of coach Eguavoen-led side on the final day of the qualifiers towards Morocco 2025.
“Qualification for the AFCON 2025 is very important to the people of Benin, especially after missing the last two editions,” a cherry-smiling Rohr told NationSports. “It is a big moment for the people, for the government, for the sports minister and, of course, the football federation.
“We had a wonderful reception yesterday (Tuesday) with a lot of people that gave us a rousing welcome under the Amazon Statue in Cotonou
“We had a long flight back home to Cotonou and had to wait for a long time at the airport in Tripoli before we got the permission to fly over Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. As such, we had to wait for about eleven hours from 3:30 am to 2:30 pm in before we flew back.
“It’s fine, we are happy to be back in Cotonou.
To underline his joy over the qualification of the Beninese national team for AFCON 2025, Rohr has since swapped the display picture on his WhatsApp from an image of himself with Bordeaux legend Zinedine Zidane and Alain Giresse to that of himself in the colours of The Cheetahs.
He offered: “Yes, I changed the DP of my WhatsApp on the day of the match against Libya (in Tripoli) because I was already in celebration mood. It is, indeed, quite a celebration for this AFCON qualification. Of course, we did not wait for the help of the Super Eagles because we had to play our own game to get the result for our qualification.”
He continued on his side’s success from the cauldron in Tripoli: “Yes, we secured our ticket in Tripoli. It was not an easy match because they tried everything. They fought on the field because Libya is also a good team with good players and we also saw that in the match against Nigeria in Uyo before they conceded a goal in the last minute of the match against the Super Eagles.
“Fortunately, we had a good organisation in our squad and even had two big chances to score. I think we got one ball behind the line but nobody could see clearly. But that draw in Tripoli was like a victory for us because it takes us back to the AFCON.”
They say, ‘winning covers everything’ but Rohr, in his frank Teutonic stance, was unmistaken in his condemnation of the Super Eagles’ approach in their shock 2-1 home loss to Rwanda on Monday in Uyo, adding that fielding such conduct does not espouse the spirit of fair play.
“We were shocked with the defeat of Nigeria in Uyo by Rwanda and I think the defeat of Nigeria came because you believed that you could leave your best players on the bench,” he noted in what seems to be a dig at coach Eguavoen. “I think doing that means you didn’t play the match in the spirit of fair play
“You don’t do that because you had already qualified. That was a bad decision. It was not fair play for the other teams in the group. We saw that and we were really surprised.
“Of course, we did not wait for the help of the Super Eagles to qualify, and we had to play our own game to get the result for our qualification. The spirit of the game should always be that of fair play; and to do that, they (Super Eagles coaching crew) should have allowed players like Victor Osimhen and Wilfred Ndidi to start the game (against Rwanda).
“It is lack of respect when you put forward a weak team because you had qualified like Nigeria did against Rwanda. There should be respect for football, respect to the opponents and respect for fair play.
“What they did against Rwanda is not good for the reputation of the Super Eagles,” he noted.
2.1.3. 18+ DID YOU MISS THE TREND? SEE ALL 400 V!D£0 CLIPS, $£X T4P£ OF Equatorial Guinea Baltasar Ebang Engonga.Away from the so-called shenanigans of 2025 AFCON qualifiers, Rohr has hinted that no quarter would be asked and none would be given by his side when the qualifiers for World Cup 2026 resume next year. The Cheetahs, he said, in second place behind South Africa in Group C would be ready to stay their claims.
“After securing a ticket to AFCON 2025, what we expect now is a good 2026 World Cup qualification,” the former Bayer Munich defender stated. “Now we are going to strengthen our team by still finding some good young players into the team. “We have some players already in mind that we want to bring into the Benin national team and we know we have the chance to also qualify for the World Cup.“We are in a very good position so far,” Rohr noted...… Read -T.he .Full _Article .Here..
