Aribo is an Important Member of the Super Eagles - Gernot Rohr

Nigeria manager Gernot Rohr has admitted that Rangers star Joe Aribo has forced him into a sensational u-turn after his stunning debut for the Super Eagles earlier this month.
Aribo scored after three minutes of his first game at international level and Rohr confirmed that Aribo had done so well that he is now an “important member of the team” in the manager’s eyes. The midfielder has made a fantastic start to life at Ibrox since his summer move from Charlton and Rohr admitted that he wanted his “strongest squad” to come up against Brazil before upcoming AFCON qualifiers.

“My plan was to play a very experimental line-up against Ukraine and use several new players, but then go back to playing my strongest team against Brazil,” Rohr said, as quoted by the Daily Record. I wasn’t going to include some of those new players that played against Ukraine, but I had to change my mind because of their performances. “One of the new players, Joe Aribo, impressed me so much that I now regard him as an important member of the team and so he will play against Brazil."

“We have AFCON qualifiers against Benin and Lesotho coming up and I want my strongest squad to play Brazil ahead of them.”

The Super Eagles face Brazil in Singapore and it will be a fantastic challenge for Aribo to face some of the South American superstars. It will be a great chance to see how the midfielder performs against a higher level of opposition and Gers boss Steven Gerrard will surely be delighted at his continued exposure to international football.

After an impressive start at Ibrox, he’s quickly making critics of his move from Charlton and showing why Rangers was the right club for him to develop. “I wasn’t going to include some of those new players that played against Ukraine, but I had to change my mind because of their performances."

By Olamide Oyetunji