Posted on Feb 26, 2020
Barring any last minute alterations, the 23-man Super Eagles list for the March double header against Sierra Leone will be delivered by Coach Gernot Rohr on Monday March 2nd to the vault of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) before its announcement to the public.
The Super Eagles will host the West Africans in Asaba on March 23 before traveling to Freetown for the reverse fixture eight days later.
There have been huge speculations about who-and-who would be on the list following some spectacular performances by Nigeria’s legion of Europe-based professionals but the German coach has revealed why he’s holding out yet on the list.
“I am meeting some players in Europe before giving my list next Monday,” Rohr told NationSport yesterday.
Such parley with players is a normal routine in international football and Rohr would expectedly check on some players including in-form striker Victor Osimhen in his native France before making whistle stops at other destinations. Though the 66-year-old former Bayern Munich defender was coy about some of the Super Eagles he would be visiting in the coming days, he made a notable mentioning of Heracles striker Cyriel Dessers.
The 24-year-old, who was born in Leuven to a Belgian father and qualifies for Nigeria through his mother, reportedly committed his international allegiance to the West African nation in December.
The burly striker is currently the Dutch league’s leading scorer with an impressive 17 goals in 26 appearances on the last count.
“Dessers are a very good player,” Rohr equally said. “He has a chance to be in the 23 (for the double header against Sierra Leone).”
Incidentally, Dessers recently enthused in an interview with the BBC Sports that it would be a dream come true if he’s considered good enough for the Super Eagles.
“Everyone in the family is hoping – and to be involved with Nigeria would be incredibly amazing for my career, but I’ve got to keep proving myself first,” Dessers reportedly said