Don’t underrate Liberia, Cape Verde, Omokaro warns
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has started preparations for Super Eagles’ Qatar 2022 Cup qualifier against Liberia, which is billed to hold in Lagos on September 3.
The Super Eagles will begin the second round of the qualifying series on September 3 against Liberia in Lagos, travel to Cape Verde for their second game in September before meeting the Central African Republic in a doubleheader between October 6 and 12 with Lagos hosting the first leg.
They will then play against Liberia and Cape Verde again between November 11 and 16.
The group’s winner will play a final play-off against a winner from one of the other nine groups in March next year for a ticket to the Cup billed for Qatar next year from November 21, 2022.
NFF Media Director, Ademola Olajire, told The Guardian yesterday that the federation has already started preparations for the qualifiers, adding that the list of players for the matches would be made public once Coach Gernot Rohr submits it to the federation.
“We are sticking with Lagos for the matches because it has always been a fertile ground for our teams,” he said, adding that the state government has assured the NFF of adequate support.
Meanwhile, former Super Eagles defender, Bright Omokaro, has warned the Super Eagles against underrating Liberia, noting that despite their low rating the West Africans have always been tough opponents to Nigeria.
He also advised the Super Eagles to avoid complacency in the home and away games against Cape Verde and Central African Republic, saying most African teams try to be difficult whenever they are pitted against Nigeria.
“With the present make up of the Super Eagles we cannot now predict the approach Rohr will adopt in the qualifiers.
“During my days, games against Liberia and some other smaller African nations were easy for us because of Clemens Westerhof’s coaching method”.
“Where we braced up was during games against top African teams like Egypt, Cameroon, and Algeria, among others.
“But in this present Eagles, you cannot understand the process of selection and game plans in most of Rohr’s games.
“However, I want to advise the players to be serious with every game so that they will gather enough points to be in a comfortable position in the group,” he said.
