Rohr namechecks five strikers in contention to be called up for WCQ, list out back end of May

Published: April 27, 2021
Rohr namechecks five strikers in contention to be called up for WCQ, list out back end of May
Nigeria manager Gernot Rohr has reiterated that it would be difficult for Lorient star Terem Moffi to be handed a call-up for the World Cup qualifiers against Liberia and Cape Verde as he's already spoilt for choice in the atacking department.

The former Bayern Munich defender is planning to submit a provisional roster containing 30 players to the Nigeria Football Federation within three weeks and the finalized squad list made up of twenty-three players will be unveiled at the back end of May.

Apart from Moffi, Rohr namechecked Leicester City's Kelechi Iheanacho, Napoli's Victor Osimhen, Crotone's Simeon Tochukwu Nwankwo and Racing Genk's Paul Onuachu as the strikers in contention to be included on the final 23-man roster.

Onuachu (31), Simy (19), Iheanacho (17), Moffi (16) and Osimhen (7) have scored a combined 90 goals in all competitions for their respective clubs so far this season.

On how far Moffi is from being called up, Rohr told  Ouest France (subscription required) : "I had already put him on a reserve list at the last get together (end of March) and then wanted to take him, but he couldn't come due to travel restrictions for players in France.

"We could accommodate the players, but the Nigerian Federation had to take care of bringing the players back by private plane.

"We couldn't afford to pay € 100,000 for this flight. I didn’t see myself asking my Federation for so much money.

"But from then on, he can be in my selection, of course. The problem is that I have a lot of top attackers: Osimhen, Iheanacho, Nwankwo, with Crotone in Italy, who is at 19 goals, Onuachu, and I can't invite five attackers. It’s not easy to find a place."

Nigeria begin their World Cup qualifying campaign against Liberia in Lagos on June 6, starting from 1700 hours.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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