Gernot Rohr has ruled out making wholesale changes to his first team for Saturday’s Round of 16 clash against Cameroon as he did against both Guinea and Madagascar, stressing he will start his best team.
Rohr made five changes for the Guinea game from the opening day win against Burundi and also made five changes for the shock loss to Madagascar.
However, the coach said he will line up his best team against the Indomitable Lions
“We want to do well after the disappointment against Madagascar, where we changed the team and played with some players to put them in the ryhtm of the competition, but now the best team have to start to make Nigerians proud,” he vowed.
He said the AFCON has reached its business end and so he expects a tough fight from Cameroon on Saturday.
“It will be a very tough game against a good team of Cameroon, we have to be prepared,” he admitted.
“The real tournament is starting for us, all the eight games (in Round of 16) will be difficult even for the home team Egypt.
He said the Eagles will be fresher than their opponents having played their last group game several days before Cameroon did.
“We have the advantage we will be physically and mentally fresher as we played three days before they did,” he said.
Nigeria produced a superb response to a shock 2-0 loss to South Africa in an AFCON qualifier by eliminating Cameroon in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers soon after and so Rohr wants to believe the loss to Madagascar could also after all be “Good omen” for another Nigerian victory on Saturday.
