World Cup Qualifiers: Genot Rohr not Nigeria’s problem-Ikpeba

Calls in some quarters for the sack of Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has been likened to chasing a rat when the house is on fire.  Former Nigeria international Victor Ikpeba who made the submission, maintained that the headache lies with the players and not the coach.

The former AS Monaco ace made the submission on Monday Night football while  reviewing the performance of Coach Genot Rohr tutored  Super Eagles in their  two legged World Cup qualifier against Central African Republic.

The Eagles lost by a lone goal in the first leg decided at the Teslim Balogun Stadium  in Lagos forcing outraged among some fans who lampooned the players for performing below par on one hand  and calling for the sack of the coach on the other.

The Eagles however claimed the second leg in Duoala by two goals scored by Leon Balogun and Victor Osimhen respectively.  Ikpeba however opined that sacking the coach is not the solution adding that the players simply need to up their game.

“We don’t have a team to dominate Africa but we can qualify for the world cup. As for some calls for sack of the Coach I am not a fan of that. It is not about sacking the coach, Shauibu Amodu qualified this country twice for the World cup twice and he was sacked so it is not about the coach it is about the players.  Ikpeba who made 31 appearances for the Super Eagles between 1992-2002 with seven goals to his credit did not however stop there as he advised Nigerians to lower their expectations and understand that the team is not condemned to win every match.  “We must realise that we can’t win every match” he added

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The Eagles currently top the group with nine points with Cape Verde closely following with seven points. The next round of qualifiers in will see the Eagles take on Liberia on November 11 before hosting Cape Verde on November 14.