Gernot Rohr has agreed a new deal to remain as manager of the Nigerian national men’s football team. Rohr’s contract was reportedly scheduled to run out in June 2020 but he has now been handed a new two and a half year deal.
The 66-year-old German tactician revealed that both parties had come to an agreement in an email he sent to board members of the Nigeria Football Federation to thank them.
He wrote: “I am happy to confirm that we have come to an agreement to continue my work as head coach of the Super Eagles for the next two years and a half.
“I want to say thank you to the Nigeria Football Federation, led by President Amaju Pinnick, the board and of course the General Secretary for their confidence in me to continue in this job.
“It is not common to have a country with the same national coach for what will be six years and this will be made possible because of the support of the federation, the government of Nigeria and our team.
“We have a big project in front of us. We have the quality and with the continued cooperation of everyone concerned, including the fans and good people of Nigeria, I believe we will have a good result that will spell great development for football in Nigeria in the future.”
The announcement puts paid to months of speculation regarding the Super Eagles coaching job. NFF president Amaju Pinnick had been in the news consistently, speaking about the contract negotiations and stating that the federation had a list of both domestic and foreign coaches to chose from if contract renewal talks with Rohr fell through.
The names of Englishman Harry Redknapp and Argentina’s Hector Cuper had been making the rounds in the press recently.
Rohr has been in charge of the Super Eagles since August 2016 and led them to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and also a third-place finish at the 2019 African Cup of Nations in Egypt.
He has won 29 of his 49 games with the Super Eagles, drawing 11 and losing 9. His close advisors had always maintained that the German was greatly inspired and intrigued with the young exciting team at his disposal and despite certain challenges, was very interested in continuing. Rohr himself believes that he can lead the three-time African champions to success.
“Yes, we want to go to the next AFCON and do very well there. And we want to start the World Cup qualifiers well and participate in Qatar with good results there,” he said.
“I am happy to continue with the squad we built together since 4 years. Stability is important for progress.
“There is still big work to do. With the commitment of the players and the support of the fans, we will able to do great things” he concluded.
