Jay-Jay Okocha Talks About Iwobi, Gernot Rohr; Rates Super Eagles AFCON Chances

Published: June 22, 2019

Former Nigeria captain Austin Jay-Jay Okocha is delighted with the progress made by his nephew, Alex Iwobi since he emerged onto the scene.

On October 8, 2015, Iwobi made his international debut for Nigeria before he was handed his professional debut by Arsene Wenger in a League Cup clash vs Sheffield Wednesday 19 days later, and Okocha believes the Hale End Academy product has lived up to his potential.

In an interview with Deutsche Welle, Okocha said : ''He is like a son to me. I am very proud of his development. Yes, it can help if you have an uncle who was a footballer himself. But he deserves everything he has worked for. ''

The former PSG and Eintracht Frankfurt star is backing the Super Eagles to do well at the 2019 AFCON and pointed out that Gernot Rohr is fully aware of the expectations from fans.

''As for the Africa Cup of Nations , I think we can go a long way. We have developed in recent years. There is now a degree of stability.

''Coach Gernot Rohr knows his team well, he has been in office since 2016. He knows that expectations are high and that it will not be easy.

''Preparation is the key and then the mindset before such a tournament has to be clear: it is important for the players to believe that they can win the tournament.

''That is also what Nigeria expects from them. And that concerns me as well: I expect Nigeria to triumph in the end,'' Okocha concluded.

Okocha represented Nigeria at five Africa Cup of Nations, winning the title in 1994, a sliver medal in 2000 and three bronze medals in 2002, 2004 and 2006.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel