This archive report was first published on 29 June 2019.
On 2019-06-29, Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr said he would alter his side for the Super Eagles’ final Africa Cup of Nations Group B match against Madagascar in Alexandria, a move he said was meant to keep competition alive across the squad.
Nigeria had already secured a place in the last 16, but a point on Sunday would guarantee first place in the group and a more favorable knockout tie against one of the third-place finishers. Rohr said the staff were already tracking possible opponents in Cairo, with South Africa, DR Congo and Cameroon among the teams under consideration for the next round.
“It's important to finish first of the group, it's better to play a team in third than second so we will do all to finish top,” Rohr told reporters at a pre-match news conference in the Mediterranean city.
He added that the final training session would help determine how many changes he would make. “Will I make changes? Yes, because I want to put everyone under pressure and have that competition in each position. We'll see in the last training tonight which changes we will do,” he said.
Madagascar arrived at the match in a strong position after taking four points from their first two games in their debut tournament. Coach Nicolas Dupuis, who also manages French fourth division side Fleury, said his players had already made history but were not treating qualification as settled.
“I'm very proud of my players, they've all been very good,” Dupuis said. “We've played in our first CAN, got our first point and first win.”
He said the islanders were still focused on the result rather than the table. “We're not yet qualified for the last 16 so I'm not going to try and calculate things. It would be a shame for it to end here,” he said.
Dupuis added that his side would still go for victory even though Nigeria were not expected to make it easy. “We're going out there to try and win knowing we're not favourites. One point will be enough for us to finish second.”
Nigeria forward Ahmed Musa said the squad remained united despite a training strike earlier in the week over unpaid bonuses. “I don't think there's anything separating the team in camp,” Musa said. “We have to fight for our country and we have to work very hard.
“Each game is more important and we are improving each game and I think the next game will be even better.”
