Ex-international Godwin Okpara has urged the Nigeria Football Federation to desist from sacking Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr with just three months to the final play-off of the 2022 Qatar World Cup qualifiers.
Okpara is the second ex-internationals – after Victor Ikpeba – to kick against the sacking of the Franco-German with just 34 days to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations insisting the move will be a disaster.
Rohr once again came under heavy criticism following the Eagles’ underwhelming performance in their 1-1 draw with Cape Verde at the Teslim Balogun stadium in November.
Speaking in an interview, the former defender said now was not the time to sack Rohr.
He said, “This is not the right time to do all these, apart from the fact that we have the AFCON almost here; we are still in the middle of World Cup qualifiers, so we don’t need these distractions and confusion.
“They should not bring confusion into the team. Let’s allow the coach concentrate on the team. We know we must perform well at the AFCON and also qualify for the World Cup.”
On the team’s chances of going far at the tournament in Cameroon, the former Standard Liège player added, “I have belief in the team, what they needed is discipline, if they really want to go far.
“We have players like Wilfred Ndidi and others who are playing well. All they need now is discipline and whatever the coach is saying, they should do it, if they are playing to the coach’s instructions then they can go places. And whatever we are doing, we should do it straight, allow the coach to do his work, with that, and then we can hold him to whatever results we are getting.
“I have heard a lot and I can’t just be talking about it on the pages of newspapers; we should allow him to do his job without any interference.”
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