South Africa vs Nigeria: Rohr hands Mikel Obi’s jersey number to 19-year-old star

Nigeria head coach, Gernot Rohr has identified newly invited Super Eagles and Villarreal forward, Samuel Chukwueze, as the player that will wear captain, John Mikel Obi’s number 10 jersey when they tackle South Africa in Saturday’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, qualifying fixture at the BFN Stadium in Johannesburg.

Recall that Rohr didn’t include Mikel in his 23-man squad that will face South Africa and Uganda.

Also recall that the German tactician explained his decision for inviting Chukwueze to the senior national team of Nigeria for the first time since representing Nigeria at U17 and 20 levels.

According to OwnGoalNigeria, Rohr said that the 19-year-old will wear Mikel’s number 10 shirt when he makes his debut for Nigeria against the Bafana Bafana this weekend.

The report also claimed that Chukwueze has been training with the number ten kit and Rohr has also played him from the number ten role.

Nigeria head to the game after defeating Libya 3-2 in their last game, while South Africa played a 1-1 draw with Seychelles at home.

Rohr’s side is on top of the group with nine points from four matches, while the Bafana Bafana is in second place with eight points from the same number of games.

The kick-off time for the match is 2pm.