By Adeolu Johnson

Nigeria Football Federation NFF is set to wield the big stick against Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr as the team wobbled into the knockout stage of the Qatar 2022 World Cup finals after being forced to 1-1 draw by a more purposeful Cape Verde side at the Teslim Balogun Satdium on Tuesday in Lagos.

The scapegoat this time around may be Rohr who the NFF we leanrt is not impressed with the result despite the avalanche of quality players at his disposal.

Eagles scored in the second minute through Napoli’s tireless striker, Victor Osimhen but put their feet off the pedal thus conceding an equaliser just two minutes later.

The Gernot Rohr men may face a difficult team in the next round except they make the first top FIFA five seedings before the draws for the playoff round.

If not, the Eagles may be drawn against top teams like Senegal, Algeria, Tunisia and perhaps Egypt.

Having conceded the goal early the Eagles upped their game and took the fight into their opponents area but their best was not enough as the Blue Shaks goalkeeper stood between them and goal.

Worst culprit was returnee Odion Ighalo who on numerous occassions failed to convert the begging chances delivered by overworked Osimhen who was the only player that stood apart on the Super Eagles side.

The dragged on to a 1-1 at half time and the second stanza did not produce any result with the handler confused with which strategy to adopt.

Rohr’s undoing was the introduction of both Osimhen and Ighalo in the first eleven thus disposing his best arsenals in the first half.
It is however gathered after the match that Rohr may be replaced for the team to improve on its performance in the playoff round.

Nigeria has participated in all FIFA World Cup final tournaments since its debut in 1994 in the United States of America, bar the 2006 finals in Germany that she missed narrowly after FIFA opted to use the head-to-head rule in the qualifying campaign, which favoured Angola.
The final round of the African qualifying series will hold in March 2022.