The former coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has given his opinion on the 1-2 defeat the senior national team of Nigeria suffered in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations against the host Cote d’Ivoire, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Nigeria were denied a fourth AFCON trophy by the host who had to come from behind to win the game in front of a capacity crowds with two second half goals from Franck Kessie and Sebastian Haller canceling out William Troost-Ekong’s opener.
Speaking about the game, Rohr who still remains the longest serving coach of the team after staying in charge for close to six years pointed out at the decision not to start Moses Simon as partly why they struggled.
Rohr gave instance of how he learnt not to bench the Nantes winger in big games after seeing how it cost them in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations semi final game against Algeria.
Head coach of the Super Eagles Jose Peseiro benched the 28 year old who won two man of the match awards, more than any Nigerian player at the tournament picking Samuel Chukwueze to start ahead of him.
” Simon? I learnt not to bench him in big games after 2019 AFCON semi final and that was why he played all the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup while I was in charge. But you never can tell why the coach took that decision and it probably would have worked. I am not happy that my former players lost the final, but I can tell them to be proud of what they achieved at the tournament”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com.
Ade Emmanuel
