Nigeria could have won 2021 AFCON, qualified for World Cup -Rohr

By Amaechi Agbo

Nine months after he was sacked from his job, former Super Eagles handler, Gernot Rohr has expressed sadness for players of the Nigerian senior national team following their uneventful 2022 football aspirations. 

The team failed to go beyond the Round of 16 at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON in Cameroon and also failed to qualify for the 2022 Word Cup in Qatar later in the year.

Rohr who qualified the team to the 2018 World Cup in Russia as well as finish 3rd in the 2019 AFCON in Egypt, reckons that the results could have been different were he still in charge of the team. 

The German had qualified Nigeria for the the 2021 AFCON and playoff stage of the World Cup qualifiers before his employers, the Nigeria Football Federation relieved him of his duties on 14th December 2021 and replaced with Austin Eguavoen.

Nigeria eventually failed to qualify for the World Cup after a 1-1 home draw in Abuja handed Ghana the ticket and suffered a round of 16 exit at the AFCON in Cameroon, disappointments Rohr blames his sacking for.

“We were still celebrating when the news came that I have been sacked as coach. They claimed it was an order from the top. I was in shock. This came at a time when I feel we are almost getting close to making out project for the team work,” Rohr was quoted. 

“The aim was winning the AFCON and we had plans for a team that would have won it and also qualified for the World Cup. There was a plan to integrate new players using the AFCON and all the pre World Cup friendly games. I can’t think of any player in the team now that we didn’t have in our plan or gave a call up. I’m sad for my players.”

Since December last year, Gernot Rohr is yet to land a new job despite few interviews and has continued to bemoan opportunities with the Super Eagles brat never came to past. 

Rohr was Nigeria’s longest serving coach after he spending over 5 years with the three-time Africa Cup of Nations winners.