Super Eagles Coach Gernot Rohr has revealed that there is “positive anger” among his players and backroom staff, adding that he hopes that will translate into result yielding determination as the team prepares to open shop in Russia against Croatia.
Rohr, who believes he has taken the players through quality training and friendly shape ups, insists that the players have the capacity to up their game with a view to excelling in Russia.
The former Gabon and Burkina Faso handler maintained that everyone has learnt useful lessons from the friendly matches played and the results that were recorded, submitting that the unanimous agreement is that there is a need for improvement even with six days to the start of the World Cup.
“After the loss to the Czech Republic, there is positive anger among the players & staff. This keeps us focused & humble,” said Gernot Rohr whose contract with the NFF will see him equally take the Super Eagles to the next Nations Cup in Cameroon in 2019 irrespective of the performance achieved in Russia.
The back to back defeat of the Eagles by England and Czech Republic has triggered off mixed reactions among soccer fans in the country with some insisting there are positives to be taken from the defeats, while others say the defeats is an indication that the team will struggle to survive the group stage.
“It is better for them to lose the friendly matches and play better in the competition. If they record easy wins in the friendly matches they will assume they have arrived and that will be counterproductive” Said a group of sports enthusiasts at one of the newspaper stands Friday in Lagos
Eagles will begin their quest for glory against Croatia on June 16, a match which many say they must win if they are to lay the foundation of survival in the Group stage.
Those who hold this view insist that winning the first match even with a small margin will boost the team’s confidence to tackle Iceland and Argentina respectively.
Nigerians will, however, be praying that prediction by Google forecast does not come to pass as it will mean starting the campaign on a losing note. The forecast indicates that Nigeria has only 17% chance of winning the June 16 tie while Croatia stands 57% chance of winning.
The match is predicted to stand 26% chance of ending in a goalless or score draw.
