'I got along well with these young players' - Rohr insists he doesn't understand why he was fired

Published: December 14, 2021

It's no longer news that Gernot Rohr will not be on the bench when the Super Eagles begin their 2021 Africa Cup of Nations campaign against Egypt on January 11.

The Franco-German football tactician was officially relieved of his duties on Sunday evening, a hard pill to swallow for the former Bayern Munich defender who highlighted that he helped launch the careers of several young players in the Super Eagles fold.

The likes of Watford-bound goalkeeper Maduka Okoye, Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, CSKA Moscow winger Chidera Ejuke, Brentford midfielder Frank Onyeka, Omonia's Francis Uzoho, Bologna's Kingsley Michael, Red Bull Salzburg's Samson Tijani and Lorient's Terem Moffi who are all aged 23 or under made their international debuts under Rohr.

Nigeria had the youngest squad at the 2018 World Cup with an average age of 25.9 years and also fielded the youngest players during the qualifiers for the tournament in Russia with an average age of 24.9 years.

The Nigeria Football Federation made the decision to change the coaching staff four weeks before the Africa Cup of Nations citing indiscipline in the team and poor results against lower ranked African countries.

Speaking to French sports daily L'Equipe via girondins33.com, Rohr said : "It's hard to understand because I got along very well with all these young players that I launched and that I tried to improve. There were great deadlines to live."

Appointed in August 2016 after stints with the national teams of Gabon, Niger and Burkina Faso, the 68-year-old Rohr is considered the longest-serving Super Eagles coach.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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