How Goalkeeper Ezenwa Became The Preferred Choice Of Gernot Rohr

Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has explained the rationale behind FC Ifeanyi Ubah star Ikechukwu Ezenwa becoming the national team's first-choice goalkeeper in recent matches.

Based on input from goalkeeper coaches Alloy Agu and Enrico Pionetti, and even Nigeria Football Federation supremo Amaju Pinnick, Ezenwa was picked ahead of Dele Alampasu and Dele Ajiboye, with Carl Ikeme out for an extended period and Daniel Akpeyi suffering an injury.

''We worked on the position also because we discussed, the staff and the president,'' Rohr said to Lagos Talks 91.3.

''We had three goalkeepers out : Enyeama, Carl and even Akpeyi. Ezenwa was the fourth one so we decided to work much more with him, Dele Alampasu and Ajiboye.

''We took another goalkeeper coach with the left foot. Alloy is a very good goalkeeper coach who is right-footed. For this position the staff put in the maximum effort to bring the goalkeeper in the best position.''

Though Ezenwa has kept two clean-sheets from his three appearances in the World Cup qualifiers, Rohr is still searching for a trusted goalkeeper and Enyeama could reconsider his decision to retire from international football ahead of the 2018 World Cup.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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