Rohr ( sitting second right of the bench) and his assistants at a Super Eagles’ training session

Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, has said that Saturday’s AFCON qualifying match against  Bafana Bafana of South Africa will be a difficult game for the team.

Rohr said this on Tuesday in Uyo while speaking with newsmen after the Super Eagles’ first training session at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium.

The coach said that the South African team had not lost a match in the last two years and as such, it would be a big challenge to beat the team.

“The game will be difficult. It will be a big challenge to beat the South Africans. It will be difficult with the young players that we have.

“Our captain, Mikel Obi and our first choice goalkeeper are out of the match,” Rohr said.

He, however, said that he was expecting four more players to report to camp Tuesday afternoon.

The coach also said that the team had a big motivation and that the players were doing well in their training.

Also speaking at the end of training session, the Eagles captain, Ogenyi Onazi, said that the team was working hard to win the match.

“We expect to win the game. We know what happened here in Uyo during AFCON qualifiers for 2015 with the South African team.

“It is not going to be a do or die affair, but we are here to make up for the past,” Onazi assured.

He said that the team had a good blend of the young and the experienced players and the Super Eagles would want Nigerians to pray for the success of the team.

In his comment, the Super Eagles’ media officer, Toyin Ibitoye, said that the team was balanced in all departments.

Ibitoye said that the training sessions that started two weeks ago in Corsica and Paris were like full match.

“The team is focused. The team is at its best,” Ibitoye said.

He called on Nigerians to pray for the success of the team in Saturday’s encounter with the South Africans.

Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the chairman of Okobo Football Associtaion in Akwa Ibom, Bassey Nkpokongoyo, who watched the training session, described Super Eagles team as balanced.

Nkpokongoyo said that Nigeria had a prepared team to face Bafana Bafana team in Uyo on Saturday.

He praised Coach Gernot Rohr for bringing young talented players into the team and expressed the hope that Nigeria would beat South Africa.

“What happened in 2014 with South Africa in Uyo will not repeat itself,” Nkpokongoyo said. (NAN)