Rohr Targets African Record At 2018 World Cup, Hints GK Uzoho Will Be Picked

Gernot Rohr wants the Super Eagles to become the first African country to reach the semifinals of the World Cup next summer, and has hinted that goalkeeper Francis Uzoho will be on the plane to Russia.

In previous tournaments, Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010) have qualified for the quarterfinals but failed to progress to the last four.

''It's a dream ( to reach the last four), it's a wish. To think we can do it would be pretentious. We will first try to pass the group stage. We will take it match to match depending on the opponents,'' Rohr said to football365.fr.

''Nigeria today has the youngest team in the World Cup with 24.9 years of average age. The figure may be even lower in Russia, as we spotted a 19-year-old goalkeeper in La Coruna (Francis Uzoho).

''We also come to learn: the life of Nigerian football does not stop after the World Cup. I sincerely believe that we have players who share my ambition to go very far and who have the technical means.''

Nigeria advanced to the last sixteen of the World Cup in 1994, 1998 and 2014 but lost to European countries Italy, Denmark and France respectively.

Igho Kingsley

Photo Credit : rcdeportivo.es