Inside AFCON: Super Eagles Coach Gernot Rohr Preaches Humility to Squad

The Super Eagles of Nigeria were received with a warm welcome at their team base camp in Alexandria ahead of the commencement of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

On Monday evening, the Super Eagles arrived at the Helnan Palestine Hotel, where they will be camped for their group games in Egypt.

Nigeria’s Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr has urged his players to humble themselves and remain in the right frame of mind for the Africa Cup of Nations which begins this weekend in Egypt.

Rohr has always played down his team’s chances, even though the Super Eagles are seen as one of the favourites to win the 32nd edition of the African Cup of Nations.

“Our aim at this moment is to stay humble and not get too excited,” Rohr told BBC Sport. “To say we have to win the Afcon is not my philosophy because we are a very young team.

“Already the president said we must win it, but this is not the ideology. We are only making a return after a period of absence so we have to play with happiness and enthusiasm in Egypt.”

Although the Franco-German emphasised his squad’s youthfulness, he has not ruled out a semi-final spot for his star-studded squad.

“Our young team will do the best. We have a chance to reach the last four, which for me is already a good result. They did very well in Russia and won hearts, I can tell from the reactions of the fans at home and everywhere I go.”

The three-time AFCON champions have only scored one goal in their last three friendly games – against Egypt (1-0) Zimbabwe (0-0) and Senegal (0-1) – however, they have assured their supporters that they will not disappoint when the tournament starts on June 21.