The coach of Benin Republic Gernot Rohr says the 3-0 mauling his team received in the hands of the Super Eagles of Nigeria in the AFCON qualifiers showed the gulf in class between both teams, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Rohr’s team inflicted a first ever defeat of Nigeria at this level with a 2-1 win three months ago in the world cup qualifiers, but they were put to the sword by a rampant Super Eagles team in Uyo led by Ademola Lookman.
Lookman opened scoring for Nigeria just before the half time break , after which substitute Victor Osimhen doubled the lead with around 15 minutes left to play. There was however still enough time for Lookman to grab his brace to complete a comprehensive 3-0 win.
Reacting to the manner which his team collapsed against the Nigerian team said it’s clear to see that the Super Eagles were the better team and deserve to win the game, largely due to the star studded nature of the team as against his team.
“What didn’t work is that we don’t have the same resources as this Nigerian team. When you see the Nigerian squad, they are very high-level players who play in their clubs. And us on a different level with young players playing at less glamorous teams. We can’t compare the two squads.”
Asked if the absence of star defender Mohammed Tijani played a role in the defeat owing to how he performed when they defeated Nigeria, the coach who was in charge of the Nigerian team for almost seven years said it did have an effect, but praised the effort of the players who replaced him.
“Of course! We missed Mohamed. But Olivier Verdon who replaced him was not bad. He held up well until the 47th minute (…) We had found our marks together with Cédric Hountondji. And there, “We had to change. But well, we don’t have a large enough workforce where we can replace some or others without losing quality.”
