Gernot Rohr has described Dele Ajiboye as “wonderful”, but it has been discovered that the Plateau United championship-winning goalkeeper is not in his plans for the World Cup.
Ajiboye kept Nigeria’s hope alive in Wednesday night’s semi-final against Sudan with several top-class saves when he replaced injured Ikechukwu Ezenwa
Rohr said after the match, “we had a very good goalkeeper again, Ajiboye made a wonderful game and saved our team several times.
“I’m not surprised by Ajiboye because I know him, I have invited him to the Eagles and we also have two good goalkeeper trainers.”
However, despite Ajiboye’s heroics in Morocco he may not be on the 30-man provisional squad for Russia 2018, top team officials have informed.
“Ajiboye is not in Rohr’s plans for the World Cup,” a source to Vanguard Newspaper.
“Rohr has made up his mind and it does not look like he will change it no matter what happens here in Morocco.”
There are however, strong indications that supports the notion that Francis Uzoho has been installed as the country’s No 1 goalkeeper for the World Cup even though he has only played 45 minutes for Nigeria in a friendly against Argentina in November and he is no longer playing first-team football at Deportivo La Coruna.
That explained why Enrico Pionetti will shortly relocate to Spain to specially work with Uzoho.
Rohr’s scouts have also picked out another goalkeeper with Nigerian roots who plies his trade in Germany.
