'Had three centre-forwards, Lookman, Iwobi' - Rohr admits he never believed Lesotho could pull off a draw v Nigeria

Former Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr monitored with keen interest Thursday's 2026 World Cup qualifying match between Nigeria and Lesotho at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, and has admitted that he was surprised that the lowly-ranked nation could pull off a draw against the three-time African champions.

The Republic of Benin manager was doing some opposition scouting before his side's meeting with Nigeria in the World Cup qualifiers next June and also keep tabs on the Super Eagles players. 

Rohr noted that the Super Eagles struggled to break down the opponents, who were happy to sit back, despite his successor Jose Peseiro fielding three players classed as center forwards, Ademola Lookman who plays as a second striker at Atalanta, and versatile Fulham midfielder Alex Iwobi in his starting lineup.

The center forwards Rohr was referring to were Bayer Leverkusen's Victor Boniface, Nottingham Forest's Taiwo Awoniyi and Leicester City's Kelechi Iheanacho

The former Bayern Munich defender revealed that Lesotho sent a message to their other group opponents that they are not to be written off by holding Nigeria to a draw.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference before Benin's World Cup qualifier against South Africa, Rohr told reporters: "You know that I spent some years in Nigeria and we played even here in South Africa in Johannesburg against Bafana Bafana so you always have an eye on your former team.

"I was suffering with them, I saw that they attacked without scoring a goal. They had to wait for a corner and a header of the big player Ajayi.

"Yes, they have problems, we know that they have big players, perhaps, they have the best players all over Africa in this team, some of them were not here, but still they had three center forwards, all wonderful players, fourth striker Lookman also, and Iwobi behind. 

"Normally, you should win this game in Uyo in a a wonderful stadium, but like you saw all is possible in this group, there can be a lot of surprises and this was already one of them.

"We never believed that Lesotho could earn a draw in Nigeria but they did well and showed that they are able to have a word in this group also."

Rohr masterminded the Super Eagles qualification for the 2018 World Cup and was in the dugout during the tournament in Russia. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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