The over dependence by Gernot Rohr on Europe-based players has now come around to catch he and his Super Eagles napping no thanks to the decision by Premier League clubs not to release call-ups to play in red-listed countries like Cape Verde.
Latest updates show that La Liga in Spain and Serie A in Italy have now joined the Premier League to say they will not release their players for the upcoming international games.
Unless there is a dramatic u-turn, the Eagles will present a hugely depleted squad in Cape Verde on September 7.
This tie even with a full squad was always going to be a difficult one for Nigeria, but when the core of the Eagles is ripped apart, it becomes a lot trickier with Nigeria’s World Cup hopes riding on it.
Former coaches Clemens Westerhof and Bonfrere Jo took the tough route of working with players from the domestic league and younger players from the age-group teams as a back-up plan.
It meant spending many stressful months on the ground, teaching these players even the basics no matter how frustrating it could be and also genuinely giving them a decent chance to show what they are capable of.
They were fully committed to expand their pool of players and were not ordered to do so as is the case now with Rohr.
Super Eagles
Rohr is the longest serving foreign coach of the Super Eagles, but in his six years in charge he can only point to goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa as his only home grown discovery, while Anayo Iwuala is still a work in progress.
I still recall some Super Eagles players grumbling about Rohr’s obsession with players in the Premier League, saying
that he merely picks players based on which club they play for and not just what value they bring to the team.
It will be most interesting to dissect the option B Herr Rohr will now be forced to come up with no thanks to the confusion he and his backroom staff have been thrown into by the decision of the Premier League clubs.
Those claims of having a pool of over 50 players they follow on a weekly basis will now be put to the full test.
And as for that little talk that FIFA could postpone the Cape Verde fixture or move it to a neutral ground… that can only be a case of an ever-exaggerated ego blabbing away as usual.
In March, Ghana played without their full squad in a 2021 AFCON qualifier in South Africa, a red-listed country, the players from the Premier League stayed back to play the second qualifier at home against Sao Tome and Principe.
That is how Nigeria will have to play it come September 7 in Praia.
