Rohr: Testing new players for World Cup qualifiers important than Cameroon loss

Gernot Rohr, Super Eagles head coach, says he is satisfied with how his players performed in the team’s defeat to Cameroon, adding that the result is “not the most important thing”.

On Friday, the Super Eagles lost to the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon by a lone goal from Andre Anguissa. 

The match, which was played at Wiener Neustadt Stadium in Austria, is the first encounter of a double-header friendly tie between the two neighbouring countries.

But in his reaction after the game, the 67-year-old German-born gaffer said the most important takeaway is how the team fared overall despite the absence of many regulars.

He also said his team was constrained by the injury problems that saw nine players withdraw from the tie.

Rohr, who also gave debuts to Terem Moffi, Marcus Abraham and Valentine Ozornwafor, disclosed that the result of the exhibition game weighed little besides establishing cohesion amongst the players ahead of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

“We have to manage the situation but this opportunity is to play with three defenders only and to change and do something different,” he told the Super Eagles media team.

“Like I said, the result is not the most important thing, the important thing is to learn, test new players and for the competition to be efficient in the World Cup qualifiers in September.

“The most important thing is not the result. It was a test match.

“So, it was very interesting to see some new players. We missed seven or eight players and of course, we have to manage the situation. We did well because we had 17 shots on goal when they had only three. They had one shot on target which resulted in the goal while we had six on the target.

“Our domination was not realistic enough because we had to score in the beginning and we didn’t and when you don’t score, definitely your opponent may get a goal.”

Rohr also disclosed that William Troost-Ekong and Jamilu Collins have been ruled out of the second match of the double-header friendly due to knocks picked up in the first game.

“We had a good integration of new players, three of them played for the first time for the Super Eagles,” he said.

“We, unfortunately, lost two other players to injury and that will make it more difficult for us in the second game because Ekong and Collins will not play.”