German coach Gernot Rohr believes the Super Eagles coach Finidi George got his tactics wrong as The Cheetahs of Benin pulled a shock 2-1 win in their group C 2026 FIFA World Cup MatchDay 4 qualifier at the Felix Houphouet Stadium in Abidjan on Monday.
The neighbouring Beninese are usually regarded as poor Nigerian cousins both in stature and football pedigree, but Rohr, who last coached the Super Eagles before berthing in Cotonou, admitted his deep knowledge of the Super Eagles helped The Cheetahs to claim a famous win in Abidjan.
“We did not really expect to win (against the Super Eagles) but we expected to do a good match because my team is now playing better and better and we won our first game (in the World Cup qualifiers) against Rwanda already last week,” the former Bordeaux player and coach, who will be 71 on June 28, told NationSports. “We knew there was the chance to beat Nigeria especially without some of their best players like Troost-Ekong, Osimhen of course, and Simon Moses.
“When they (Super Eagles) opened the scores, it was not easy for us to come back but we did it well; and the corner kicks made the difference as well as the big fighting spirit, and the counter attacking formation – and our organisation was okay.“
Pressed on what he would have probably done were he in the shoes of the embattled Super Eagles coach, Rohr volunteered: “Of course, coach Finidi tried and he made five changes and when I saw that he pulled out Iwobi and Chukwueze, who are both very dangerous players and brought in the big strikers, we had to react by bringing out our defensive midfielders (Cisse) in order to resist the attacks.
“For me, Chukwueze and Iwobi are two of the best players of the Super Eagles and I was finally happy for my team that they didn’t play throughout the match.”
Defeat away to The Cheetahs in Abidjan means the Super Eagles have only amassed three points from possible 12 following identical 1-1 draw in their opening three matches against Lesotho (home); Zimbabwe (away) and South Africa (home).
