Super Eagles Coach, Gernot Rohr has revealed that the different shades of injury to some of his key stars has given him the opportunity to try new players in Nigeria’s Russia 2018 World Cup qualifier against Algeria.
Algeria hosts the Super Eagles in Constantine tomorrow, but the Nigerian side, which has already qualified for the World Cup, will be without such influential stars as Ogenyi Onazi, Odion Ighalo, Mikel Agu, Victor Moses, Elderson Echiejile and Moses Simon.
In a video interview posted in the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) twitter account, Rohr he was more interested in the performance of the new players than in the result of the match.
“This is an opportunity for us to see some players who didn’t play so much during the qualifiers. We have six injuries, which means that we will have at least six changes.”
Despite the fact that Algeria has nothing but pride to play for tomorrow, Rohr still acknowledges the quality in the North African side, but he promised to give them a good fight.
“We know Algeria can be very aggressive. They have one of the best African players in Mahrez and there is also Slimani, among others. So, it will be interesting to know how the new boys will perform against such tough opposition,” he said.
Nigeria will meet Argentina in an international friendly in Russia four days after playing Algeria and Rohr believes that game is a different test entirely.
He still believes Argentina will be a tough proposition despite the absence of Barcelona star, Lionel Messi, saying it will show the character of some of the players at his disposal.
“We have only three days to prepare for Algeria, but we will have the opportunity of seeing everybody in the second game, which is fantastic because Argentina is one of the best teams in the world, with perhaps the best player in the world (Messi). So, we can see what they are able to do against a South American team if we have them in our group in the World Cup.’’
