Nigeria’s Super Eagles manager, Gernot Rohr has revealed that the next FIFA World Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations slated for 2022 will be very difficult for Nigeria if they qualify.
Due to the global pandemic, the football calendar in the world was disrupted with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) postponing several competitions, including the 2021 AFCON for health and safety reasons.
Rohr, who recently extend his contract with Nigeria national team, said Super Eagles, who are currently leading Group L of the AFCON qualifying with six points, will face a hectic schedule in 2021 and this might affect their performance if qualify for the continental cup and World Cup slated for the following year.
“The Africa Cup of Nations is postponed. It’s the same for everyone so it’s not a drawback.
“We have more time to prepare as well as for other countries. We can continue the play-offs and start the World Cup qualifiers at the same time.
“But it will be a difficult 2022 year because already in 2021, there are a lot of qualifying matches to play for the team,” Rohr said.
Speaking further, the former Bordeaux manager explained that the only option for the team to get prepare is to engage in top quality friendly games to keep the team in shape but there is no way it will be a very difficult year for Super Eagles if they qualify for both tournament.
“I think we will have time to play a few friendlies. In the year 2022, if we have qualified for the World Cup and the AFCON, there will be many, many games to play.
“So it will certainly be a difficult year,” the German tactician said.
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