German coach, Gernot Rohr has said that Nigeria may yet press a self-destruct button should the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) fail to take the right and firm decision as it concerns Super Eagles coach, Jose Peseiro.
The NFF has dallied over extending the contract of the Portuguese after his initial one-year contract ended on June 30 with the NFF President, Ibrahim Gusau widely quoted as saying on a radio programme , that a contract extension would be decided based on popular fans’ votes.
Pressed to comment on the sensibility of such an action , the immediate foreign manager of the Super Eagles who is currently attached with The Cheetahs of Benin Republic, described it an ‘unusual’, adding the NFF must refrain from making just popular decisions.
“I have not seen anything like that (before) and this is very unusual,” Said Rohr who qualified the Super Eagles for both Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup and Egypt 2019 Africa Cup of Nation (AFCON).“ It is left for the people (NFF) to take the right decision and sometimes good decisions are not always popular.
“But if you take popular decision, you’ll make mistakes,” added the former Bayern Munich defender in apt reference to his controversial exit from Nigeria.
With Super Eagles heading to Qatar 2022 World Cup, the NFF dispensed with Rohr ahead of the play-off as Ghana eventually nicked one of the continental slots under interim coach Austin Eguavoen.
Yet the Super Eagles faltered to deceive at the following AFCON in Cameroon as they crashed in the second round to Tunisia despite winning all their three first round matches.
Incidentally, the Super Eagles have been drawn in Group C for the CAF qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA World Cup alongside Rohr’s Benin Republic, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Lesotho.
But the former Bordeaux manager feared the Super Eagles may yet be programmed to fail at the upcoming 2026 World qualifiers as well as next year’s AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire should the NFF makes another erratic decision over the vexed contractual agreement with Peseiro.
“Sometimes, you have to make good decisions which are not popular,” Rohr further said. “Of course, I should be concerned because I still have good contacts with a lot of people in Nigeria.
“Personally, I felt so bad that Nigeria could not make it to the last World Cup in Qatar because we had a good team at that moment but for that poor decision; but all that is in the past now,” he said.
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
