Don’t write off Nigeria — Rohr

Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr saw plenty of positives from his side’s 1-0 friendly defeat by the Czech Republic on Wednesday.


He has promised that his players will deliver better performance against Croatia at the World Cup on  June 16.

Despite losing three of their last four warm up games and drawing the other, Rohr is focusing on the World Cup.

“We lost again another match, everybody is angry about it and this anger is positive,” Rohr told BBC Sport.

“After we won against Argentina in a friendly (in November), everyone talked about us reaching the semi-final and now the results now has humbled those voices.

“Because we need humility, it is helping us. We also need solidarity and hard work. Everybody understands this after the defeat to Czech Republic.”

The three-time African champions looked lethargic during the opening half of their loss to the Czechs, but played with more intent after half-time in their final warm-up match.

Rohr also pointed to the fact that Leicester midfielder Wilfred Ndidi, who had been out since April with a hamstring injury, is once again fit.

“We also had some positive lessons especially with the return of Ndidi. He has not played for two months,” Rohr said.

“It was very important to see him playing again. Normally, he should play 70 minutes but could play 90 minutes which is very good.

“The medical team did a great job. Now Ndidi will be fit for the World Cup.”