Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has picked two players from 2018 CHAN to be part of his World Cup preparations – goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa and central defender Stephen Eze.
“Rohr has decided to pick Ezenwa and Eze for his World Cup preparations and it is now up to the two players to fight for a place in the final squad to Russia,” a top official disclosed.
Nigeria reached the final of the CHAN in Morocco, where they lost to the home team.
Ezenwa was already widely tipped for Russia 2018 after his five-star displays in more recent World Cup qualifiers against Cameroon and Zambia.
He also enhanced his high ratings with superlative displays at the CHAN in Morocco.
He is expected to soon recover from a knee injury he suffered in Morocco.
Stephen Eze, on the other hand, has for months been on the radar of Rohr since the CHAN qualifiers in Cotonou last year.
The effective giant central defender, who is already bound for Bulgarian club Lokomotiv Plodiv, played every minute as Nigeria reached the championship game at the CHAN in Morocco.
Plateau United goalkeeper Dele Ajiboye’s chances may have been undone by the 4-0 spanking Nigeria suffered in the CHAN Final after his Man-of-the-Match performance against Sudan in the semi-final.
Rohr has already announced he will name his squad for two important World Cup warm-up matches against Poland and Serbia by the first week of next month.
The Eagles are away to Poland on March 23, before they battle Serbia March 27 in London.
