Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has defended his decision to hand a late call up to Spartak Trnava of Slovakia defender Izuchukwu Jude Anthony.
Izuchukwu was drafted into the team yesterday to swell the number of the players in camp to 21 ahead of tomorrow’s international friendly game against Cameroon. Nigeria have been hit with series of withdrawals which are injury related.
The most affected area has been the defence of the team and Rohr explained it was why the duo of Izuchukwu and Valentine Ozornwafor were drafted in as emergency cover ahead of the game.
He said the idea was to get players who don’t require an entry visa to travel to Austria because the coronavirus pandemic has made traveling around Europe difficult.
“ We need more defenders because the players who withdrew from the games are mainly in defence. Izuchukwu isn’t new to me and the crew same as Valentine. We called them up to cover up for the absence of some players”, Rohr explained.
“ They were the obvious choice because of ease of travel. The virus has made it difficult for many to travel around Europe. We hope they give us what we need on Friday”.
