Former Super Eagles and Bolton Wanderers captain, Austin Jay-Jay Okocha, has spoken about his nephew, Alex Iwobi, coach Gernot Rohr and the chances of the John Obi Mikel-led team winning the African Cup of Nations in Egypt.
Okocha said he was delighted with the progress made by Iwobi since he emerged into the scene.
Iwobi made his international debut for Nigeria on October 8, 2015, before he was handed his professional debut by Arsene Wenger in a League Cup clash vs Sheffield Wednesday 19 days later.
Okocha said the Hale End Academy product has lived up to his potential.
He stated this in an interview with Deutsche Welle, adding, ”He is like a son to me. I am very proud of his development. Yes, it can help if you have an uncle who was a footballer himself. But he deserves everything he has worked for. ”
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Okocha also backed the Super Eagles to do well at the 2019 AFCON, noting that Rohr was fully aware of the expectations from Nigerians.
”As for the Africa Cup of Nations , I think we can go a long way. We have developed in recent years. There is now a degree of stability.
”Coach Gernot Rohr knows his team well, he has been in office since 2016. He knows that expectations are high and that it will not be easy.
”Preparation is the key and then the mindset before such a tournament has to be clear: it is important for the players to believe that they can win the tournament.
”That is also what Nigeria expects from them. And that concerns me as well: I expect Nigeria to triumph in the end.”
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