Super Eagles boss Rohr explains why Ighalo was left out of the squad against Liberia

Odion Ighalo, who was recalled to the Nigerian national team this month, was left out of the Super Eagles squad that faced Liberia in Morocco on Saturday.

The coach Gernot Rohr says the reason for that is because of the 32-year-old’s late arrival to the training camp in Tangier.

“He [Ighalo] is a good goal scorer, we know it and we are happy to have him back,” Rohr said. “He only arrived on Thursday and that is why he could not participate against Liberia.

Nigeria defeated Liberia 2-0, courtesy of strikes from Victor Osimhen and Ahmed Musa. They face Cape Verde on Tuesday and a point will be enough to send them through to the final stage of the World Cup qualifiers.

“I hope in our next match on Tuesday, he [Ighalo] will be able to help us much more.”

The German coach also spoke about the striker’s recall despite the abundance of attacking talent in the team, noting that the national team – which has a relatively young squad – need the experience of Ighalo in attack.

“The reason why we asked Ighalo to come back is that we have a young team,” he said.

“Our strikers are very young 21, 22, and 23 years – [Chidera] Ejuke is very young, [Samuel] Chukwueze is coming back from injury, we need somebody to help them with experience in the attacking position.”

Ighalo, who played for Watford and Manchester United in the Premier League, now struts his stuff for Al-Shabab in Saudi Arabia. He’s scored nine times in 11 games for the club in the Saudi Pro League this season.