Super Eagles’ coach, Gernot Rohr has downplayed the import of Friday’s 1-0 loss to Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions during an international friendly match played in Vienna, Austria does not matter, megasportsaena.com reports.
Rather than feel flustered or embarrassed that his side could not keep their winning streak going against Cameroon, who the Eagles had beaten in their previous three clashes, the Franco-German tactician said his players gave the best they could.
Many Nigerian fans and analysts alike are critical of the Eagles’ show in Vienna, but Rohr turned to statistics to support his argument that the squad had a fine outing and stressed that the results of friendlies do not really matter.
The former Girondins-Bordeaux of France coach, who has also handled the national teams of Gabon, Niger Republic and Burkina Faso, used statistics to defend his players’ performances on Friday night.
He pointed out that they dominated the game, especially in the opening minutes, and, though he admitted that they could not make their chances count, the Franco-German tactician argued further that they struggled because of the absences of Samuel Chukwueze, Victor Osimhen, Joe Aribo, Kenneth Omeruo, Samuel Kalu, Leon Aderemi Balogun and Zaidu Sanusi.
The Eagles’ coach also insinuated that Cameroon were lucky to win, as they scored from their only shot on target, and concluded that he was satisfied seeing three players get their debuts for Nigeria, as Terem Moffi, Valentine Ozornwafor and Abraham Marcus entered in the second half.
Rohr insisted his players gave their best efforts during the game at Stadion Wiener Neustadt and added: “The most important is not the result; it was a test match so it was very interesting to see some new players. We missed seven or eight key players, of course we had to manage the situation.
“They did it well, and we had 17 shots on the goal while they only had three, they had only one on target but it was a goal and we had six on target. Our domination was not good enough. It was not realistic enough because we had to score in the beginning of the game, we did not.
“When you don’t score, very often you concede. It was like that; but I saw interesting things. We had a good integration of some new players, three of them played for the first time with the Super Eagles.
“The team did the maximum, they gave a good image of football because they never give up and the victory is not the most important in friendlies. It is important to learn, to progress, to be ready for the next competition.”
