By Jacob Ajom

On Thursday, October 7, the Super Eagles put up a disgraceful performance and capitulated to the national team of Central African Republic at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos.

For a team ranked about 90 places below the Super Eagles it was not only embarrassing, it was also a dampener to millions of Nigerian football fans.

The head coach of the team Gernot Rohr has come under immense criticism with some Nigerians calling for his sack.

They accuse Rohr, who has stayed with the team longer than any other coach in recent history, of having not done enough.

Rohr has nothing to offer – Dudu Orumen

Chairman of the Edo State Sports Commission, Barrister Dudu Orumen was not surprised the Eagles under Gernot Rohr, put up such a show of shame. “I have said for two years now that Gernot Rohr has nothing to offer to the Eagles and Nigeria.

“However, some of our people believe he has something to offer. Let him go ahead.

“I don’t watch the Eagles again. I told my friends that one has to pay me appearance fees before I can watch the Eagles again.

“That is because in four years you cannot describe the Eagles as a defensive or an attacking side. There is nothing you can discern from that team. My expectation from the Eagles under Gernot Rohr is zero.

“Unfortunately, a section of the media are in support of Rohr or of the NFF keeping him.

“Westerhof was here from 1989, by 1992, that is the team that went to Senegal, only three players broke into the main team; these were Jay Jay Okocha, Sunday Oliseh and Efan Ekoku.

“But for Gernot Rohr, every match you see a new face. It looks like players’ agents have taken over the Nigeria national team. He has to go because he has nothing to offer.”

READ ALSO: World Cup Qualifiers: Super Eagles missed key players in CAR loss – Rohr

Rohr must go – Aiyejina

One of the respected voices and Sports Editor of the Punch Newspapers, Tana Aiyejina says he was ashamed to be a Nigerian after the Super Eagles collapse to C.A.R.

“It’s a shame, we don’t have a team. If we can lose to a team ranked over 100 places behind us, a team that has no known face, no known name then we need to sit down and tell ourselves the truth that we are not ready yet.

“In the last six years, what I see in the Super Eagles is kick-and-follow, no discernible pattern, no style.

“If we have been going about getting results – some unconvincing – I think the truth is staring us now in the face.

“Even in our last game against Cape Verde, it took the grace of God that their defender scored an own goal to give us the three points.

“Against C.A.R. Even if we had assembled an entirely home-based team, I don’t see how they could have beaten us that way.

“But here we are with a coach who is not interested in the domestic league and all he is interested in are ready made players.

“Even when he gets these ready made players, he does not know how to make use of them. It’s a shame because yesterday, I was ashamed to be a Nigerian.

“It is clear we don’t have a coach because for six years we don’t know what the boys are playing, whether from the middle or from the flanks.

“All we have been seeing is the individual brilliance of the boys. Rohr does not mean well for Nigerian football. Rohr must go.”

Eagles must step up their game — Garba Lawal

Former Nigeria international, Garba Lawal said only the coach could explain what happened.

He said, “I am not the coach that played the format that he used. If I were the coach, I would have been able to talk about the technical side.

“Football is about the team, if the team got a bad result, it is the whole team that failed, you don’t single out individuals.

“But it shows that the players need to step up their game in subsequent matches. Unfortunately, we lost, which was not supposed to be.

“When you give an underdog side the chance to play football it is always difficult to handle them, especially if you don’t destroy them within the first 25 minutes.

“If you allow them to build confidence, it means you are in trouble. That was what happened.”

Eagles underrated C.A.R. – Shorunmu

Former Super Eagles goalkeeper trainer and one time Nigeria’s number one, Ike Shorunmu also reacted.

“Although I didn’t have the chance to watch the game, from what my friends called to tell me, they said our players didn’t put enough strength to play the game, and they were overconfident, thinking that their opponents were not a team to be reckoned with. I hope they learned their lessons yesterday,” Shorunmu said..

He warned, “One thing people must understand is that it is easier to make a name, but more difficult to sustain that name.

“Super Eagles is a brand in the whole world and the Central African Republic believed that they had nothing to lose if they lost to Nigeria 10 – 0 or 20 – 0, so they came with the mindset of springing a surprise. And they got what they wanted.

“They came with confidence, they were not under any pressure because everyone thought Nigeria was going to beat them and if they lost, it was no news.

“But they had one thing in mind; to shock their hosts and make news, because the whole world celebrated them as they won.

“It would not have been the same if the Eagles had won. But then, football is moving fast. It;s a big lesson to our players; those who played and those who were on the bench. They now know that it is not yet over, until it is over.”

“I have been in that type of situation before. Most of the players now will be in their shells because of the shock of losing at home.

“The only thing one can do now, maybe the coach, is to psyche them to go out there on Sunday and change the narrative for their own good, their future and that of the country. Anything short of victory in the next game will be a disaster and will spell doom for the team.

“Everything revolves around the players. You know players can fight for the coach. Definitely, Rohr has come under intense heat since the defeat, and if the players love him, they would go out there and win for him.”

Why Eagles failed – Ben Iroha

“What can I say? That is football. When you underrate your opponent, they will bring you down, that was what happened.

“They were not playing. It was just that they had a lot of energy and were just closing down on our players. They had more stamina.

“Not that they were better than the Eagles but they were more determined and that resulted in the goal. It was a normal lucky goal. I believe they should learn from that and put up a better fight next time out.

“What can a coach do? It was the boys that played the game. He chose his best players so I don’t see what the problem was with the coaching. It was the failure of the whole team, not the coach alone.”

Vanguard News Nigeria