Super Eagles technical adviser, Gernot Rohr has disclosed that he wouldn’t want to face Ukraine in an international tournament due to their FIFA rankings.
The German tactician made this known after Nigeria’s 2-2 draw against Ukraine in an international friendly at the Dnipro Arena on Tuesday.
Nigeria’s new invitee, Joe Aribo put the team ahead in the 4th minute when he received a cut-back from Alex Iwobi before Osimhen extended Super Eagles lead in the 15th minute via a penalty.
Quick-fire goals from Oleksandr Zinchenko and Roman Yaremchuk canceled out first-half efforts from Joe Aribo and Victor Osimhen in Dnipro.
However, Rohr stated that Nigeria put up a brilliant fight regardless of Ukraine’s incredible comeback.
“We saw a great match. Both teams played quality football. We dominated the first half, but Ukraine played at home, so the result is natural. After the break, they did much better,”Rohr told reporters after the game.
“Would I like to meet Ukraine in an official Tournament? No. This team is ranked 24th in the FIFA rankings, leading the way in its Euro-2020 qualifying group and is likely to reach the finals of the continent. ”
The Super Eagles will next regroup in November for their 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against the Squirrels of Benin. Rohr will be hoping that lessons learnt from the friendly game against Ukraine would be translated into result against Benin.
This post was last modified on September 11, 2019 2:14 pm