Former Nigeria International, Emmanuel Amuneke has backed current Super Eagles Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr to replicate the success of former Coach, Clemens Westerhof.
Amuneke recalls that it took Westerhof five rigorous years to build the successful 1994 squad, and Rohr seems to have adopted a similar pattern to the Dutch man’s strategy.
Westerhof led Nigeria to victory in the Africa Cup of Nations in 1994 and also qualified for Nigeria’s first ever FIFA World Cup.
Regarded as Nigeria’s golden era in football, the 1994 squad comprised experienced and hugely talented players scouted from within and outside of the Country.
Speaking with brila.net, Amuneke said, ‘I like what the Coach is doing. His style of management. He’s helping players build their confidence and that is good.
‘You can see what he’s doing, trying to give every player an opportunity and you know that the only way to convince him is by understanding and interpreting his match tactics on the field.
‘That was the same thing Westerhof did. Don’t forget it took him five years to build that 1994 team,’ he explained.
Amuneke also called for fans to support the team and not be overly critical of their performances.
He maintains that a lot of Nigerians will stand to gain a lot if the Country scales the World Cup qualification hurdles to reach Russia in 2018
‘We must look at the team and encourage them. They took advantage of every situation and are now top of the world cup qualification group.
‘Playing the likes of Cameroon will be difficult,but we must try to do our job both on and off the pitch, because that is how hard it will be.
‘We shouldn’t be quick to criticize poor results. What we can do is look at our past games; learn to improve the good and work to correct the bad outcomes.’
‘Look at Germany and the project they have, we must also learn to build and give support to such new ideas,’ the former African player of the year said.
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