Super Eagles Head Coach, Gernot Rohr is delighted to have a complete team for the first time since the tournament began two weeks ago.
Ahead of the quarter-final clash against South Africa tomorrow in Cairo, all the injured players have been given clean bill of health thus making the coach not to have too much stress in filling the gaps.
Team captain, John Obi Mikel, who played no part in the last match against Cameroon has handed the coach selection boost when he completed the training session of the squad on Sunday night and yesterday evening.
It is not yet clear whether the former Chelsea stalwart will get a start shirt or from the bench on Wednesday.
“It’s a major boost for Eagles that the team captain is fully back and I’m particularly glad that all the injured players have recovered and ready to play positive part in our quest to progress to the next phase of the tournament.
“When a coach is in this situation, the problem is half solved but one major obstacle that it also creates is that it brings selection problem.
“The question now is do you drop or substitute a player that played well in the last match for another first team player? The answer is simple and at same time difficult. Just like I did in the last match, my selection would be based on whatever formation we are adopting against South Africa.
“We have to think deep what our opponent want to come up with. Their strength and weakness will determine who will start and who will not play any part at all.
“Overall, I’m delighted that I have a complement of a full squad for the match,” Rohr explained last night.
Shehu Abdulahi who was missing in action is also back and took part in the training session yesterday evening.
Just like in the previous round, the Eagles dedicated almost half an hour perfecting penalty kicks to avoid a repeat of what happened to the team when it lost in shoot out to Cameroon in 2000 edition which Nigeria lost 2-4 after 2-2 scoreline at 120 minutes.
