Gulf in class: Benin coach Rohr explains 0-3 loss to Super Eagles, laments absence of key defender

Benin Republic coach Gernot Rohr said his side’s 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Nigeria’s Super Eagles in the AFCON qualifiers showed the difference in class between the two teams, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Rohr’s side inflicted their first ever defeat on Nigeria at this level with a 2-1 win three months ago in World Cup qualifying but were beaten by a rampant Super Eagles side in Uyo led by Ademola Lookman.

Lookman opened the scoring for Nigeria just before the break, before substitute Victor Osimhen doubled the lead with 15 minutes remaining. However, Lookman still had time to score twice to complete a convincing 3-0 victory.

Reacting to the way his team collapsed against the Nigerian side, he said it is clear that the Super Eagles were the better team and deserve to win the game, largely due to the star-studded nature of the team compared to his side.

“What didn’t work is that we don’t have the same resources as this Nigerian team. When you look at the Nigerian team, you see that they are very high-level players who play for their clubs. And we are at a different level, with young players who play for less glamorous teams. We can’t compare the two teams.”

Asked if the absence of star defender Mohammed Tijani played a role in the defeat given his performance when they beat Nigeria, the coach who was in charge of the Nigerian team for almost seven years said it did have an effect but praised the effort of the players who replaced him.

“Of course! We were missing Mohamed. But Olivier Verdon, who replaced him, was not bad. He held on well until the 47th minute (…) We had found our place alongside Cédric Hountondji. And then, “we had to change. But hey, we don’t have a squad big enough to be able to replace one or the other without losing quality.”