Rohr Reacts : Rojo's 'Clear Handball', Why Idowu Started Ahead Of Ebuehi, Etebo's Free-Kick

Published: June 27, 2018

Gernot Rohr thought it was a wrong decision by the Turkish referee, Cüneyt Cakır, not to award a penalty to his team after a handball by Manchester United's Argentina defender Marcos Rojo in the 75th minute in Tuesday's World Cup match in St. Petersburg.

Oghenekaro Etebo and Tyronne Ebuehi had given away two penalties in the Super Eagles first two games in Russia against Croatia and Iceland, and the German admitted that he was delighted that the referee pointed to the spot after Javier Mascherano pulled Leon Balogun by the shirt in the 49th minute.

''Stories of penalties again, I believe that it was handball, I didn't see the video, it is difficult to decide for the referee and make a good interpretation of the VAR, it is not easy.

''We could have scored from a free-kick (from Etebo), we believe it was in but it wasn't. A few centimeters sometimes decides if you win or lose. My team gave away two penalties, today we had one, I was happy about it, unfortunately it was not enough.''

Rohr has refused to criticize Brian Idowu for his performance, and explained that he named the Russian-based defender in the starting XI ahead of Tyronne Ebuehi because of his defensive qualities.

''Lionel Messi, when you have him on the right side coming in with his left foot, you must have a good defender with a good right foot.

''We have another one who played in the second half against Iceland who is more offensive but is not too good defensively.

''He caused a penalty in the first match because he is very young, he has the time to learn to defend well.

''Brian Idowu is a much better defender and he did well especially against Messi, Messi scored a goal but he did it with his right foot.

''What we did in the second half was very good with Brian Idowu. He can play on the left side and the right side also,'' he added.

Igho Kingsley