Mikel and Rohr both declare they will remain with the Eagles until African Nations Cup next year

SUPER Eagles skipper Mikel Obi has delayed his decision to retire from international football for now saying that he may hang around for a little longer if the team qualifies for the 2019 African Nations Cup.

Mikel, 30, had been expected to retire from international football after the World Cup but following Nigeria's elimination, he is yet to throw the towel in. Speaking after the match, Mikel said several factors, including Nigeria's participation in the forthcoming Nations Cup will determine his international future.

"My continued stay in the Super Eagles will be determined by future realities but I love the team, as it is very young, disciplined and supportive. We should wait for the Eagles to qualify for the Nations Cup first and I hope I can still be around but that will depend on if the team qualifies.

Talking of the welfare situation and administration of the team under him, Mikel said everything was wonderful and exciting. He added that it was unfortunate Nigeria got eliminated from the World Cup as the team played well but was unlucky, however, he said the Eagles will be back in four years time.

Meanwhile, head coach Gernot Rohr has admitted that he wants to continue in his role despite the failure of the team to progress beyond the group stages of the World Cup. Mr Rohr, who has been in charge of the Super Eagles since 2016 says the team is moving in the right direction and wants to continue as coach with the 2019 African Cup of Nations as his immediate target.

He added that a lot has been achieved by the team considering the fact that he took over after its failure to qualify for back-to-back African Cup of Nations tournaments. Nigeria still has a hard task of qualifying for Cameroon 2019 after losing her opening game at home to South Africa.

Mr Rohr said: “It’s a big disappointment, my team did the best, played a very good second half and are missing a few minutes to have qualified. I am proud of my players as we played well in the second half.

"We are missing a bit of experience, we have a young team and I think these kind of matches are building the character of the team and in four years they will be very strong. I would like to continue because I have a good feeling with this team."

He added that the team is a good cocktail of youth, passion and discipline and has never had any problems. According to Mr Rohr, the team is just missing a bit of experience but the loss to Argentina will help with the building of character.