“Terrible!” – Nigerians Blast Super Eagles, Rohr For Friendly Defeat To Algeria

The Super Eagles succumbed to a narrow defeat in their first-ever friendly face-off with the Fennecs, but the performance did not sit well with a large section of the Nigerian fans

Algeria confirmed their superiority over the Gernot Rohr-tutored Super Eagles after a Ramy Bensebaini effort in only the sixth minute of play earned the African champions their second consecutive victory over the West Africans. 

Nigeria missed the services of Napoli forward Victor Osimhen and Leicester City midfield trojan Wilfred Ndidi, as the attacking trio of Paul Onuachu, Samuel Kalu, and Samuel Chukwueze failed to sparkle.

Rohr handed full debuts to Midtjylland man Frank Onyeka, Porto left-back Zaidu Sanusi, and goalkeeper Maduka Okoye, as the German tactician continues to try other options in improving the Eagles.

But it was the Foxes who started the game on the front foot and deservedly scored the game’s opening goal after the Nigerians failed to clear their lines from a corner kick.

Rohr’s men had a few opportunities to level proceedings, but Kalu shot wide when well-placed, Iwobi saw a wicked drive narrowly miss target while substitute Iheanacho’s late free-kick fizzled past the upright.

It was not all gloomy for the three-time Afcon champions, though, as Sparta Rotterdam’s Okoye had a near-perfect night between the goalposts while Rangers’ centre-back Leon Balogun was solid in defence.

Overall, however, the Algerians looked the better organized of the two sides and reaped the benefits of a bright start.

Nigerian fans have not taken the friendly defeat lightly, though, and many have worded their displeasure at the Super Eagles poor performance on micro-blogging site, Twitter.

Head coach of the Nigerian side Rohr has, however, chosen to pick the positives from the game as his men prepare for another friendly meeting with former African champions Tunisia on October 13.