Brazil friendly: Eagles impressed me ―Rohr

Nigeria Joe Aribo (left) making his second appearance for the Super Eagles agianst Brazil

Manager Gernot Rohr believes the Super Eagles have ‘good future’ after they were forced to a 1-1 draw by Brazil in Sunday’s friendly in Singapore.

The 66-year-old German tactician paraded a young team against the five-time world champions, following a spate of withdrawals by some of his experienced players, including captain Ahmed Musa.

The team, however, gave a good account of themselves with Joe Aribo -making his second appearance for the Super Eagles – scoring the opening goal in the 35th minute before Casemiro’s second-half effort saved the South American champions from defeat.

The draw is the second in a row for the Brazilians after they were held by Senegal in Thursday’s friendly outing.

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Rohr is impressed with the performance of his side but admitted the three-time African champions still have to improve.

“It was tough for us as the second game because Brazil would not have wanted to leave Singapore without winning, and it feels very good to know that we can play so well against some of the biggest names in football,” Rohr said in a post-match press conference.

“We didn’t have our best team here, but our wingers gave Brazil a lot of problems on the counter-attack and I am proud of our players. They can have a good future.

“We can still improve in defending set-pieces. We have height, with players as tall as two metres, but we have to be better in the air.

“It is not enough just to have good size, they need to jump well with good timing.”

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Rohr believes African football is improving after both Nigeria and Senegal avoided defeat against the world number three.

“These results are good for African football when Senegal and Nigeria did not lose to Brazil, one of the strongest teams in the world,” he added.

Nigeria will hope to secure good results when they take on Benin Republic and Lesotho in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying games in November.