Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr is in disagreement with top shots of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) over the choice of Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba to host the national team’s friendly against Egypt on March 26.
Footballlive.ng learnt that Rohr believes the Asaba stadium pitch is not good enough to host such a caliber match, between two of Africa’s biggest teams, but the NFF hierarchy insisting on taking the game to the Delta State capital.
Dramatically, the NFF also intend to stage the Eagles’ last match in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers at the same stadium, named in honour of former Eagles captain and coach, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi.
Just as it was for the last Eagles’ friendly match, which also held at Stephen Keshi Stadium, the NFF top brass believe it would be cost effective to take The Pharaohs of Egypt to the same arena.
The Eagles’ first friendly in 2019 will come up only four days after they battle Seychelles in their last AFCON qualifier, which is a dead rubber game, as Nigeria has already qualified with a game to spare.
The argument being forwarded by officials at The Glasshouse is that Asaba would be the best option for both matches, to save costs and due to logistics issues, especially as Delta State government is again ready to foot the bills.
However, few dissenting voices in the soccer governing body are of a view that a major attachment for Asaba comes from the fact that NFF president, Amaju Pinnick is from Delta State, and is inclined towards leaving a legacy behind as gains from his unprecedented two-term tenure at the head of Nigerian football.
