Gernot Rohr has played down the chances of Nigeria winning the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations by arguing that the Super Eagles are not among the top three ranked teams in Africa.
Reflecting on the contenders for the title, Rohr noted that the Super Eagles did not qualify for the last two editions of the Africa Cup of Nations, hence their poor Fifa ranking.
The German picked three North African countries as well as the top ranked African nation, Senegal as the favorites for the title.
''No, I do not think we can say that. When we look at the ranking of Africa and FIFA, we are not the first African country,'' said Rohr to girondins4ever.com.
''There are other countries in front of us, I think we are fourth. There is Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt that may be favourite at home for the AFCON, there is also Senegal in front of us.
''The ranking is not just the latest results, but for a few years. In 2014, 2015, Nigeria was not great and did not qualify for the last two AFCON. It has somewhat handicapped its ranking at FIFA and Africa.''
''There are other countries in front of us, I think we are fourth. There is Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt that may be favourite at home for the AFCON, there is also Senegal in front of us.
''The ranking is not just the latest results, but for a few years. In 2014, 2015, Nigeria was not great and did not qualify for the last two AFCON. It has somewhat handicapped its ranking at FIFA and Africa.''
Nigeria have reached the last four of the AFCON fourteen times in the competition's history and only Egypt with 15 has a better record of qualifying for the semifinals.
Ifeanyi Emmanuel
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