2021 AFCON: Angry Fans Rough Tackle Rohr, Eagles Over Poor Showing
Shocking and totally embarrassing! That is the verdict passed on the Super Eagles’ woeful showing against Sierra Leone on Friday night in Benin, the Edo State capital..
For most Nigerians, especially the few fans that defied COVID-19 protocols and restrictions to catch a glimpse of the Eagles outside the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium, the final 4-4 scoreline was quite heartbreaking and they showed their anger by booing and pelting the team bus with water sachets.
They had unkind words for Coach Gernot Rohr and his men, describing as utterly disappointing and abysmal the Eagles showing in this qualifier for the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
Things went from bad to worse for totally wingless Eagles as they were unable to soar in a 45 minutes display full of school boys errors. Lacking in ideas and technical depth, the team was pathetic, givjng away a dominant four goal lead as the visitors ran riot in the second half with three well-deserved goals to stalemate the encounter.
Strikes from Alex Iwobi and Napoli’s Victor Osimhen had stretched the Eagles’ impressive lead before Iwobi made it three just by the half-hour mark with Samuel Chukwueze scoring the fourth goal.
But a brace from Al-Hadji Kamara and efforts from Kwame Quee and Mustapha Bundu cancelled out the lead and ensured the match ended in an unexpected draw.
The result means the Eagles have failed to maintain a clean sheet in five successive outings, their last being the AFCON third place match against Tunisia in Egypt.
However, the Eagles still lead Group L with seven points from three matches while the Leone Stars who they face on Tuesday for the reverse fixture in Freetown – have two points from three games
Furious fans outside the Benin stadium reportedly chanted ‘Super He-goat’ while others pelted the team bus with sachet water as they departed the venue
Some of the tweets by angry and disappointed fans are reproduced below:
“When we say Gernot Rohr is the wrong man for the job people, some will think we just love to yab. There is no excuse for this show of shame,” Faulkner Joseph tweeted after the game.
“Maduka has shown to us that he’s not ripe to be Super Eagles number one goalkeeper. A sound coach will not leave Daniel Akpeyi out of team and bring a player who is yet to find his feet to replace him. See why Rohr isn’t the best Nigeria. Sunday Dareplease use your office to sack Rohr now,” Olawale Quadri wrote.
Popular musician PRAIZ tweeted, “Problem follow Eagles enter pitch. How do you go from 4-0 to 4-4,”he queried.
A Twitter user with the name Idris Elbar said, “The Super Eagles were acting like Goliath, but Sierra Leone came back twice as tall. I think Messi is the motivation for the Nigerian team because their bottling game is.”
Wale Adetona said, “My five-year-old nephew knows better to park the bus worst-case scenario in such a situation when it was 4-3. But because Rohr cannot roar.”
“When you train against strikers like Dare, Pinnick and Shaibu these are the kind of defending you get.#RohrOut,” @migiduk wrote in a veil reference to happenings at Eagles’ training sessions before the match
An angry Mubarak Uthman tweeted, “It’s annoying. I streamed this match live inside a village in Gwoza.
“Data wasted. Honestly, that right back guy is no way better than Aina.
Micheal Ekele wrote, “Our coach lack game management we saw it clearly at the last world cup his substitutions is worse.” – With additional reports from The Punch
