Man Of The Moment Kelechi Nwakali Replies: Rohr Will Decide My World Cup Fate

Arsenal wonderkid Kelechi Nwakali has commented on his performance on his non-competitive debut for the Super Eagles, saying it's up to manager Gernot Rohr to make a final decision as regards to naming him on the World Cup roster.

Rohr is faced with the same predicament as ex-Nigeria coaches Clemens Westerhof and Adegboye Onigbinde who had no choice but to take Tijani Babangida and Peter Odemwingie to the 1994 and 2002 World Cup in the United States and Korea/Japan respectively as the 'unregistered player' after shining in friendlies leading up to the tournament.

''It was a good game, I didn't expect it from our team because we trained only three days before the game,'' Kelechi Nwakali said post-match.

''It was a good game despite we lost the game, the team was good, I must commend the team.

''Scoring against the Europa champions was a thing of joy, we thank God for the moment, all we just do is work, keep pushing until we get there.''

On his chances of being named in the Super Eagles World Cup roster, Nwakali said : ''I am not the one to decide, the coach has to decide.

''Like I said before, we have the team to go to Russia and make a statement. As a team we can make it , we have quality players to defend Nigeria and I believe with their mind put to it they will do it.''

Nigeria's World Cup-bound team will face Democratic Republic of Congo next Monday in Port Harcourt before traveling to London for an eagerly anticipated friendly against England on June 2.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel