Former coach of the Super Eagles has expressed his sadness for players of the Nigerian senior national team
Gernot Rohr had qualified Nigeria for the knockout rounds and final stage of the World Cup qualifiers before he got the boot in December 2021 and was replaced with Austin Eguavoen.
The Franco-German coach helped the Super Eagles qualify for the AFCON but didn’t get a chance to lead the team to its second AFCON under him.
Nigeria eventually failed to qualify for the World Cup 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 reportedly told Owngoal Nigeria per Sunnews.
“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,” he was quoted as saying.