New head coach Gernot Rohr says fixing Eagles' defence will be his main priority for now

NEWLY-appointed Super Eagles manager Genort Rohr has revealed that tightening the team's defence will be his major priority as he prepares it for the forthcoming 2018 World Cop qualification campaign.

 

Nigeria has been drawn in the proverbial group of death in the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifiers alongside Cameroon, Algeria and Zambia. Earlier this month, German coach Rohr was appointed to lead the campaign and on September 3 he will take charge of his first game in an African nations Cup qualifier against Tanzania in Uyo.

 

With qualification for the 2017 Nations Cup already beyond Nigeria's reach, the Uyo match is just a formality but Mr Rohr intends using it to evaluate the players. He added that he believes fixing up the defence of the Super Eagles is key to their aspirations of qualifying for the World Cup in Russia.

 

Mr Rohr said: "We’ve got a lot of work to do to get Super Eagles ready for the World Cup qualifiers. If the Nigerian team is to effectively compete, it must have a good defence, so we are certainly going to work on that area.

 

 "I watched the Olympic team and was very impressed by their performance, in spite of the initial problems. I will be watching league matches across Nigeria to search for talent, in addition to using players in Europe."

 

Mr Rohr coached Bordeaux to the Uefa Cup final in 1996, where they lost to Bayern Munich over two legs, was also the sports director of Eintracht Frankfurt from October 1998 until April 1999 and has worked with Étoile Sportive du Sahel and FC Nantes. Mr Rohr also has substantial experience of working in Africa having coached Gabon and Niger Republic in the past.