Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr said they are confident of qualifying for the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar after they made it to the last edition in Russia two years ago.
The German tactician who led the three-time African champions to Russia in 2018, has been tasked with the responsibility of guiding Nigeria to the quadrennial showpiece after renewing his contract with the West African country in May.
Nigeria have been drawn in Group C against Cape Verde, Central African Republic and Liberia in the second round of the African qualifiers.
Despite these three opponents not reaching the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Egypt, Rohr is still expecting a tough challenge and he is not underrating any of them.
“We have three opponents in the group and have to respect all of them. Liberia are a team that can’t be underestimated as we saw when we beat them in a friendly,” Rohr told Fifa website.
“As for Cape Verde, they have players of Portuguese and Brazilian origin, and they can beat any team. Central African Republic are an unknown quantity for us, which makes it more difficult. I think the group is tough, but we believe in our capabilities.
“Given that we qualified from the group of death for Russia 2018, we’re confident we can make it this time as well.”
The third round will see the winners of the 10 groups battle for the final five slots as African representatives in Qatar.
The 67-year-old manager is hoping to see spectators return to stadiums before they begin their qualifying campaign in 2021.
“There will be fierce competition regardless, but when we play without fans we’ll miss the excitement,” he added. “I hope fans can attend games next year as this will make the matches more enjoyable.”
For the first time since their last competitive outing in November 2019, Rohr will be reunited with his Super Eagles team in Austria next month.
They have been scheduled to play Tunisia and Algeria on October 9 and 13 respectively.
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