Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has once again reiterated his preference for foreign-based players in the national team saying they have “more quality” than their domestic counterparts.
Rohr recently revealed his 24-man squad for Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Sierra Leone later this month.
Only Heartland goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa was called up from the domestic league much in keeping with Rohr’s penchant for selecting a single home-based player in his squads.
In the last qualifiers against Benin and Lesotho, Enyimba’s Ifeanyi Anaemena was the token player from Nigeria’s domestic league with Ezenwa out injured.
The Nigeria Football Federation has leaned on the coach to involve more domestic players in future squads stating that Rohr’s continued stay at the helm hinges on him acceding to their demands.
The Franco-German’s contract runs out in three months and he is yet to be offered a new deal.
Rohr has however reiterated a stance he’s always held – his squad of young players only has space for the best players who can only be found abroad.
The former Bordeaux coach, however, said deserving players from the league will always be given a chance to prove their worth in the senior national side.
“We have our project. we have a team for the future For three years, we have been together most of us here. The team is progressing and we now have young boys that are coming in,” he said.
“I know that you want more and more home-based players but the quality we have abroad is higher than in the home base but we took somebody again to give him a chance and we will always give a chance to the players that deserve.”
