Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr says his team will be up to the task when they come up against ‘fantastic player’ Mohamed Salah at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
The draw for the biennial competition , which took place on Tuesday, put the three time African champions in Group D alongside Egypt, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau.
Salah, who plays for Premier League giants Liverpool is the most dangerous player in the Pharaohs team and Rohr is confident his defenders can stop him when both teams clash in their game of the competition.
“It is a big challenge to play against Egypt in the first game and a player like Mohamed Salah,” Rohr told ESPN.
“It is a big challenge for all our defense and also for all our team. We will defend collectively against him of course, and we are growing together since a few years now and I believe our defence is able to be efficient against such a fantastic player.”
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Along with Salah’s Egypt, Nigeria also have to contend with Sudan and Guinea Bissau. As easy as the group may look on the face of it, Rohr is not falling for it, admitting that he would have wanted to avoid Egypt.
He said: “We have a tough group. Egypt, everybody knows and everybody wanted to avoid. But they are with us, it is okay.
“Sudan also. They have a French coach, a friend of mine, who did a good job since he arrived there, coming out from a difficult group. Also Guinea Bissau is not easy.
“We will be very, very well prepared. We need to be ready for this first match against Egypt in Garoua.”
The Super Eagles will open their campaign against Egypt at the Roumdé Adjia Stadium, Garoua on January 11.
The competition will take place between January 9 2022 and February 6 2022 across five cities in Cameroon.
