We have talent – West hopes young Nigeria can Rohr in Russia

Experienced coach Gernot Rohr can help Nigeria’s rising stars prosper at the World Cup in Russia, according to Taribo West.

The African nation begin their campaign against Croatia in Kaliningrad on Saturday, with Argentina and Iceland also in a highly competitive group.

Nigeria have the youngest squad in the tournament but former national team defender West believes Rohr, who has previously worked in Austria, France and Switzerland, as well as his native Germany, can help them cope, despite many of their players lacking experience in European football.

For that reason, West – who represented his country at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups – singled out Chelsea’s Victor Moses and Kelechi Iheanacho of Leicester City as key performers, as well as captain John Obi Mikel.

“Players like Victor, Iheanacho, Obi Mikel have demonstrated their qualities,” West told Goal.

“And the advantage of this selection is to have a very experienced coach in Gernot Rohr. He knows the highest level. We rely a lot on him, on his experience.

“It’s a team that does not have a lot of experienced players. We do not have big, big players. But I think Rohr has worked hard. Collectively, I find them very strong. It’s a young, fresh team.

“We have talent and are mentally strong. But I repeat, these players, apart from a few of them, need to acclimatise to the highest level. European experience is missing in this squad.”

Team Walk. #SoarSuperEagles #NGA #CRONGA #Team9jaStrong pic.twitter.com/f3eNAbvC2n

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