Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr has lauded his players’ character following a 3-0 victory against Seychelles in Saturday's 2019 African Cup of Nations encounter in Victoria.
After an uninspiring World Cup outing in Russia, the Super Eagles needed a win to revive their qualification bid, having suffered a 2-0 opening loss to South Africa in June 2017.
First-half goals from Ahmed Musa, Chidozie Awaziem plus Odion Ighalo’s second-half strike from the spot gave the west Africans the first win in their qualifying campaign at the Stade Linité.
And the 65-year-old was delighted his side secured the maximum points and is hoping they will maintain the momentum going up against leaders Libya next month.
“Winning here was very important, though It was tough to play on a synthetic grass we really did well to lead 2-0 before half time,” Rohr told media.
“The third one came in the second half against a team of Seychelles that were very aggressive and had a new coach who wanted to get a result. It was our first game after the World Cup and we tried to play our good football despite it was not easy on this [Stade Linite] pitch.
“We had the same spirit as we did at the World Cup and did very well to get our three points. It is important to me that we continue with the same attitude and prepare well for the game against Libya.
“We are one point behind [Libya] after they got a draw against South Africa. We are hosting them first, so we have to win. It is two legs against them and we have to pick at least four points.
“It is interesting that the group is progressing and finding possibilities of replacing those not available. We will need a good pitch [to express ourselves] and before October 10 and I believe our injured players like John Obi Mikel, Ola Aina, and Leon Balogun will be fully recovered.”
.jpg?auto=webp&format=pjpg&width=640&quality=60)
