AFCON 2023: What former Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr said about the victory against Ivory Coast

Gernot Rohr led the Super Eagles to a third place finish at the AFCON 2021 tournament after a late Riyadh Mahrez free kick knocked Nigeria out of the semi-final against Algeria.

Former Super Eagles head coach, Gernot Rohr, has congratulated the Nigerian football team after they defeated Ivory Coast by a lone goal, Soccernet.ng reports.

Rohr, currently the coach of Nigeria’s immediate neighbours, Benin Republic, was in charge of the Super Eagles from 2016 up until 2021.

A well struck penalty from William Troost-Ekong was enough to seal all three points for Jose Peseiro’s men, and Rohr didn’t hold back in lavishing praise on the players and the tactical organization that held the team compact in defence.

“It’s a very nice victory for the Nigerian team against Ivory Coast who were not in the game at all. The organization with the 5-4-1 formation was decisive because we didn’t see the strikers of Ivory Coast at all,” the German tactician said in a video posted by Osasuo Obayiuwana.

Despite lavishing praise on the Nigerian players, the 70-year-old urged the team not to relax yet, highlighting that the journey isn’t over.
“It’s a very good result, I’m happy for my players. There had been so many criticisms in the past that they answered with this big match, but they have to be careful and humble, because in the last AFCON they won the three games in the group and they got knocked out in the next round. Each match is very important,” He added.

Nigeria have been drawn in the same 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying group alongside Gernot Rohr’s Benin Republic. South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Rwanda are also in the same group with the Super Eagles.