Rohr Provides Update On Mikel's Injury, The Reasons He Took Idowu Off At Half-time

Published: June 23, 2018

Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr has provided an update on the injury suffered by Tianjin Teda midfielder John Obi Mikel in the closing minutes of the national team's 2-0 win against Iceland on Friday evening.

Mikel was seen holding his wrist and was forced to play through the pain barrier as the Nigeria team had used all their permitted substitutions, but Rohr does not think the ailment will keep him out of the crucial Argentina match next week Tuesday.

''He had a knock, he was very tired because he had to run so much, especially in the second half, he was running up and down.

''Changing position is more work, more defensive work also for him but he doesn't have a serious injury. He will recover well and hope he will be fit like all the other players for the next game on Tuesday.''

The German coach has explained that it was a tactical decision to substitute Russian-based defender Brian Idowu at half-time.

''We made one change already at halftime, Brian Idowu had a yellow card and I wanted to make the left side of the pitch more offensive, Tyronne brought it.

''He's a very offensive fullback, he did it very well. The players understood that we had to be more dynamic and more aggressive in the good sense of the word. Immediately in the first minutes, you saw we had finally shots on target.''

The Super Eagles final Group D clash is against Argentina in Saint Petersburg, the Russian city where Idowu was born, and their destiny is in their own hands.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel