Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has played down suggestions that QPR midfielder Ebere Eze is the closest in terms of play to former Super Eagles captain Austin Okocha.
Eze was courted by Nigeria for their AFCON 2021 Qualifiers games against Benin Republic and Lesotho respectively but he opt for a chance with the U21 of England where he played as a substitute in their 3-0 win against Albania in the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2021. The game means he will now require a clearance from FIFA to be able to play for Nigeria.
The process of switching allegiance from England usually takes around 12-14 months and that length of time makes it quite hard for managers to wait as most times coaches want these players immediately particularly when they are playing at their best.
That could make Rohr jettison the idea of pushing for the 20 year old although he admit that the player can be a part of his team but not at the level of Austin Okocha as said by some.
” For Eze we have to be patient because it now means we have to wait for him to make up his mind to play for Nigeria and when he does the process requires patience as with Ola Aina it took one year”, Rohr told Owngoalnigeria.com.
” He has what can be of help to my team and that was why we went after him but I don’t think he plays like Okocha. They are different. Maybe he will get to that level in the future but for now he is not close”, Rohr concluded.
