It was reported that the three-time champions who finished second in Group A with 7 points will face Cameroon who also finished second in Group C with four points after defeating Gambia 3-2 in a pulsating game on Tuesday.

Guinea who needed a draw in their game against defending champions, Senegal, lost by 2-0 to drop to 3rd with 4points.

The Super Eagles reached the Round of 16 after defeating Guinea Bissau by a alone goal on Monday.

The last time both the Super Eagles and the Indomitable Lions met at the same stage in 2019 AFCON in Egypt, Super Eagles won 2-1.

The titanic clash between Nigeria and Cameron is slated for the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium, Abidjan on Saturday by 8 pm (local time).

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Some sections of the media had reported on Thursday that four players of the Super Eagles tested positive for the deadly COVID-19 and had to undergo another round of testing.

But Media Officer of the Super Eagles, Toyin Ibitoye, expressed dismay over such reports, noting that results of the tests carried out on the players on Thursday were being awaited as at the time of this report.

He wondered how the players can test positive for the virus without result of their tests.

Ibitoye said that such reports could negatively affect the players ahead of the team’s international friendly against Algeria on Friday.

“Please discountenance reports that some of our players tested positive to COVID-19 ahead of tomorrow’s friendly game against Algeria. It is blatant falsehood.

“The writer of the story, who was not part of the press conference earlier today totally misrepresented what Coach Rohr said.

“Rohr said that since the outbreak of the pandemic, four of our players had tested positive, but were all now fully recovered from the virus and back in action.

“The results of the COVID-19 tests carried out on the Super Eagles ahead of tomorrow’s game are still being awaited,” he added.

Meanwhile, organisers of the Nigeria-Algeria match have changed the venue of the encounter.

The match was earlier scheduled to take place at the Jacques Lemmans Arena in Austrian state of Carinthia, which contains only 2,420 spectators, but has now been moved to Worthersee Stadium in Klagenfurt, with 30,000 seating capacity.

No reason was given for the change in match venue.

Our correspondent reports that the Super Eagles trained only ones on Thursday ahead of the clash against the Desert Foxes of Algeria scheduled to kick-off by 7:30 p.m. Nigerian time on Friday.

The team is expected to lock horns with their Tunisian counterparts on Oct. 13.

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The team’s Media Officer, Toyin Ibitoye, told our correspondent on Monday that Etabo pulled out after he sustained an injury in club’s lone goal defeat to Kasımpaşa FC at the weekend in a Turkish league encounter.

Ibitoye said most of the players are expected to arrive in the team’s camp at Hotel Die Zeit, Austria.

Victor Osimhen who plies his trade with SSC Napoli in Italy, had on Sunday asked to be excused from the two matches and was replaced by Paul Onuachu who plays for Belgian club Genk.

NAN reports that the Super Eagles officials and backroom staff arrived in the team’s training camp in Austria in the early hours of today (Monday) aboard Turkish Airlines.

The Super Eagles are expected to play their Algerian counterparts on Oct. 9, before engaging the Tunisia national team on Oct. 13.

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Others to depart on Saturday night are Team Administrator, Dayo Enebi Achor; Media Officer, Toyin Ibitoye; Team Doctor, Ibrahim Gyaran; Equipment Manager, Chidi Ngoka and Physiotherapist, Christopher Nnadozie.

Toyin Ibitoye, Super Eagles, Media Officer, disclosed this on Tuesday in an interview with our reporter saying that the officials had all received their visas for the journey.

Ibitoye also said team captain Ahmed Musa would depart with the officials from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

The Super Eagles are scheduled to play the Desert Foxes of Algeria on Oct. 9 and Tunisia’s Carthage Eagle on Oct. 13 in friendly matches ahead of competitive games.

According to Ibitoye, the players will begin to arrive the team’s camp in Austria immediately after their clubs engagement this weekend.

“Our players will start arriving in the camp between Friday and Sunday immediately they finish playing their league games this weekend.

“We will be playing our first game on Oct. 9, so, by Oct. 6, every player is supposed to be in camp in Austria.

“We will have just two days to prepare and we know Algeria is a strong force in football,” Ibitoye said.

The Super Eagles Coordinator, Patrick Pascal who also spoke to our reporter, said the Coronavirus pandemic had affected football so much and as such cannot predict what would happen in Austria.

Pascal, however, assured Nigerian fans that the team would live up to the expectations during both matches.

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Rohr who spoke at a post-match conference in Uyo after his team came from behind to defeat the Squirrels of Benin Republic 2-1 said winning AFCON 2021 was a huge desire.

“It will be exciting for me to win the 2021 AFCON title with Nigeria. That’s my desire, and I will be the most excited.

“So, winning today (Wednesday) is just the beginning. I can’t be excited until we win the title in 2021,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Nigeria versus Benin game was a 2021 AFCON Qualifier and it took place at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo.

Rohr, who said Benin Republic have a good team, also noted that the Nigerian side had a good game in the second half.

“The Super Eagles had a lot of scoring opportunities, but they failed to convert all of them.”

He however pointed out that the game’s opening goal, scored by the Squirrels’ captain, Stephane Sessegnon, in the match’s second minute, was a big shock.

“In the second half, we played a very good match, ‘one-touch two-touch’, and we have good wingers. We had a lot of opportunities, and with the changes we made, we did very well. It is good for us.”

Rohr also said he could not use home-based players for now in the Nigerian team due to specific reasons

“At the moment, the quality we have from abroad is higher than what we have in the home league (Nigeria Professional Football League).”

Speaking also, the Super Eagles’ team captain, Ahmed Musa, said the match was “a tough game for our team, even though we won.’’

He added that the Nigerian side gave their best to prevail over the visitors.

On his part, the Head Coach of Benin, Michelle Dussuyer, noted that his team played very well in the first half.

He however pointed out that the 45th minute penalty kick his team conceded gave more confidence to the Super Eagles.

Also, Sessegnon acknowledged that while the game was not a bad one for his team, the Nigerian side played better.

Our correspondent reports that in the game the Squirrels drew the first blood, while the Super Eagles, through Victor Osimhen, equalised from the penalty kick spot in the 45th minute.

Although Nigeria had several scoring chances thwarted by the Benin goalkeeper in the second half, the winning goal came in the 62nd minute through a solo effort by Samuel Kalu.

Alex Iwobi, Joe Aribo, Samuel Chukwueze and Ola Aina also shone for Nigeria in the match where the Super Eagles confined the Squirrels to their own half throughout the second half.

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The match played at the Singapore National Stadium on Sunday saw Joe Aribo opening scoring after 35 minutes of play.

Brazil however equalised three minutes into the second half when Casemiro fired home from close range.

Adepoju, via his Twitter handle @mutiuadepoju8, described the performance as a sign of good things.

“Well-done brave SuperEagles! This draw looks like a win and I believe this is a sign of good things to come for our senior national team.

“Also, there are lots of lessons to take home against Brazil and that is very important”.

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Rohr spoke at a pre-match press conference in Singapore, ahead of Sunday’s clash with five–times world champions Brazil at the Singapore National Stadium in Kallang.

He explained that the high-profile friendly was an opportunity to test his team’s capacity and make adjustments where necessary before playing against Benin Republic and Lesotho.

“The game against Brazil will show how much we are progressing after finishing third at the AFCON in Egypt.

“It is a fantastic opportunity for us to learn a few more things that will make us better and stronger for future challenges.

“This is an important test game for us, and we are here to learn from the best. We hope for a very good game against Brazil on Sunday.

“This will help us prepare ourselves for the 2021 AFCON qualifiers against Benin Republic and Lesotho next month,” Rohr said.

He also noted that the friendly would afford him the opportunity of testing new players in order to fill the void created by the retirement of some old top players in the team.

“After the 2019 AFCON, two of our top players (Mikel Obi and Odion Ighalo) retired and we have to see how to replace them.

“We saw a little bit in our friendly against Ukraine last month and hope we can improve on that performance tomorrow (Sunday).

“A good showing against Brazil will help our confidence a great deal,” the team handler said.

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Ekong made the remarks on Saturday at a pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s clash with Brazil at the Singapore National Stadium in Kallang.

He said his team was inspired by the 1-1 draw fellow West African neighbors Senegal played with the South Americans.

It was reported that Brazil were held to a 1-1 draw by Senegal on Thursday in Singapore.

“Brazil are a top team, probably the best team in the world, but Senegal gave them a good fight on Thursday.

“We can pick some inspiration from that performance when we play the Brazilians on Sunday.

“It will be tough because they will want to win at least one game against an African team on this tour, but we will also want to take something off them,” he said.

It was also reported that Sunday’s encounter starts at 8 p.m. Singapore time (1p.m. Nigeria time).

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It was reported that Otedola, on the eve of the Super Eagles’ semifinal clash against Algeria during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, pledged the sum of 25,000 dollars for each goal scored by the team.

A goal by Odion Ighalo from the penalty spot saw the Super Eagles claw their way back into the game having gone a goal down in the first half.

But Riyad Mahrez’s excellently struck free kick on the dot of 90 minutes, which ensured Algeria defeated Nigeria 2-1 in the semifinal at the Cairo International Stadium.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Tuesday took to its Twitter page to announce that the business mogul had made good his promise to the Super Eagles.

“Business mogul Femi Otedola has fulfilled his pledge of $25,000 to the @NGSuperEagles for their one goal against Algeria in AFCON 2019 semi final.

“Seen here on Tuesday with defender @omeruo22 (r),Team Administrator Enebi Achor (second l) and Equipment Manager Chidi Ngoka (l),” NFF tweeted with a photo (above) so captioned.”

It was also reported that the Super Eagles later defeated the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia 1-0 in the third place match to win the AFCON 2019 bronze medal.

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It was reported that Rohr had led the team to a third-place finish at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt.

The Eagles had won the bronze medals on Wednesday after beating Tunisia by a lone goal scored by Odion Ighalo in the third minute of the game.

The football enthusiasts told our reporter the team would have made it to the final if the coaching crew had made better selection and had better tactical approach.

Emeka Okeke, a sports presenter, said Rohr lacked the technical know-how and made bad selection of players.

Okeke said that most of the players he took to Egypt were less than average and were not doing well in their various clubs.

He said Rohr experimented with the players from the day he took charge of the team, adding that he should be shown the way out.

“We cannot be playing games at competitions with our hearts in our mouths, no confidence in both the players, the technical crew and the bench,” Okeke said.

Ikem Asika, a sports analyst, said Rohr showed he was not in firm control of his team and expressed worries that the domestic league has not attracted him since he was employee.

Asika alleged that most players fielded by Rohr were foisted on him by “jobbers in the Glass House”, adding that no coach would do well under such condition.

“Any coach that knows his onions must insist on his players and game plan and not be pushed around on who should play or not,” he said.

Asia added that it was not proper for Daniel Akpeyi to play ahead of Francis Uzoho or Okechukwu Ezenwa if not by “special selection”.

Jude Atupulazi, a journalist, said while the team might not have met the expectations of their teeming fans, the players still deserve some accolade.

Atupulazi said Rohr should be given more time as there were chances he would do better with the team in the future.

“The team tried, coming third out of 24 nations. It isn’t easy. So, we may have to manage Rohr in order to sustain the progress being made.

“Look at the average age of our players. They are very young, and it means the future is bright. So, instead of starting afresh with a new gaffer let Rhor continue,” he said.

Victor Nwangwu, a veteran football administrator, said Rohr has met and surpassed the target set for him by his employers in line with the contract.

Nwangwu said the performance of the Super Eagles in Egypt was not bad as teams that had better chances to win the cup exited much earlier in the competition

“He qualified Nigeria for the World Cup, qualified Nigeria for AFCON, got a third position in the competition proper, a step more than his contractual target, and this is with the youngest Super Eagles team ever assembled by a coach.

“Ghana, Cameroon and Egypt hold superior AFCON records than Nigeria, yet they got eliminated much earlier than we were.

“What else can we say of Rohr, other than he did not win the cup? He deserves to be appreciated and of course respected,” he said.

Anthony Udennaka, a retired football referee, warned against incessant sacking and hiring of coaches to ensure sustainable progress.

Udennaka said the Super Eagles under Rohr did well but lost due to ill-luck, noting that football was an open game which any side playing could win.

“I am of the opinion that the man should be allowed to continue with his good job. Hiring and firing of coaches has never done us any good.

“Many world class coaches lose matches. So, Nigeria’s case should not be an exception,” he said.

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