Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr says he’s happy that players born abroad are now interested in playing for the country, but insisted they will only be selected on merit.
Rohr made this known in a news conference ahead of Friday’s international friendly meeting with African champions in Austria.
In the last few months, Cyriel Dessers, Kingsley Ehizibue, and Kevin Akpoguma are the high profile players who have joined the Super Eagles, despite playing for their respective European country at the youth level.
“We are only mindful of the quality of players in building the team, not where they were born,” Rohr told the media on Thursday.
Rohr also maintained that the boys are Nigerians and are proud to wear the green and white colors, irrespective of their country of birth.
“It’s isn’t good to say because players are born abroad, they ain’t Nigerians.
“The players we have want to play for us, the motivation is there. White/black it doesn’t matter.”
The former Gabon boss concluded by urging the people to embrace them and not to make them feel like a stranger in their father’s land: it is not good to talk about their color or where they are born. They are Nigerians and want to play for Nigeria.
” This is what some of these boys don’t like as well. They are seen as foreigners in Europe and then in Nigeria, they are called whites which they aren’t.” He said.
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