Like Morocco: Nigerians fought against my Super Eagles plans with diaspora players – Rohr

Former Nigeria senior national team coach Gernot Rohr says he strongly objected when he tried to go the Morocco route during his time as Nigerian national team coach, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Morocco has been one of the revelations of the current World Cup with a team largely made up of players born outside the country. A path that Rohr followed during his time as coach of the Nigerian national team.

Rohr was very aggressive in his approach but encountered strong resistance from a section of Nigerians, particularly former players, who accused him of neglecting players born and bred in Nigeria.

The coach said he is surprised that Morocco is now being praised for a model that was attacked and rejected during his almost six years as Nigeria coach.

“I identify it (attracting foreign-born players) as the way to close the gap between African teams and the best teams in the world. Football education is not the same at a certain level, which, with all due respect, gives an advantage to foreign-born players,” the coach said.

“During my stay in Nigeria I was strongly opposed to doing it. Now it is what many people praise Morocco for. The approach is normal as long as the players are eligible nationals,” he concluded.

Ade Emmanuel

Advertisement