Rohr On Disallowed Goals Vs South Africa: Ahmed Musa Too Fast; Referees Need The Help Of Technology

Published: November 23, 2018

Gernot Rohr has said that Ahmed Musa was too quick for the match officials to follow, hence their decision to disallow two legitimate goals scored by the Super Eagles in last weekend's Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against South Africa.

The German has diplomatically refused to criticize the Gambian referee Bakary Gassama, rather he put the blame on the assistant referees for the two wrong calls.

Nigeria had the ball in the net in the 8th minute but the effort was disallowed with the linesman adjudging Ahmed Musa to have been in an offside position during the build-up.

The second episode also involved the Super Eagles captain, it looked as if the former Leicester City man had put Nigeria 2-1 up after a delightful pass from Iwobi but the flag went up again.

Speaking to Sports Editors on Friday, Rohr said : ''When you are on the sideline and watching the game, you don't know really if it's offside or not. I saw it only after the match, when we saw pictures.

''I didn't criticize the linesman but told them later when you have quick players like Ahmed Musa, I can understand that the linesman cannot follow, some of our players are too quick for them, it's not easy to see at the same time the ball, it's impossible to judge, they need the help of technology. ''

Rohr added : ''I felt the referee did well, it was not his decision but the linesman's. It was two clears goals because we saw it after.

''It was a draw but the draw is like a victory because it brought us the qualification but we don't want only qualification.

''We also want to finish first which means we have to win our game against Seychelles. ''

Nigeria have been undefeated since the end of the 2018 World Cup, winning three matches and drawing two.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel