Gernot Rohr has confirmed that a home defeat by South Africa in June was the wake-up call for his team.
“That match was a big wake-up call for us,” Rohr told the NFF. “Now that we have the World Cup ticket, we will go all out for the AFCON ticket and get it.”
“I am very excited to be working with this team: a blend of the experienced and the young and ambitious ones. They are a delight to be with at all times, and I believe we are on to great things.
“At the beginning of the qualifying series, many people said we were going to be chasing it. But we sat down together and we promised ourselves that we would go all out and get the ticket.
“When you have a team that has so much self-belief, a lot of things are possible. Age is but a number. I feel young and able and willing to go on working with this group.”
Rohr, whose record stands at played 10, won six, drawn four and lost one, has become only the second coach to lead Nigeria to World Cup qualification with one game to spare. The other was Frenchman Phillipe Troussier in 1997.
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