Official: NFF sacks Rohr as Nigeria’s coach, appoints ex-Super Eagles star as his replacement

Official: NFF sacks Rohr as Nigeria’s coach, appoints ex-Super Eagles star as his replacement


The German-tactician five and half years spell as the coach of the three-time African champions is over following the decision of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)

The NFF has announced that it has sacked Gernot Rohr as the head coach of the Super Eagles, with Austin Eguavoen appointed to take over from the German on an interim basis.

The body revealed this on its website, saying it has decided to let go of Rohr after more than five years in charge of the team.

NFF’s statement read: The Nigeria Football Federation has appointed Mr Augustine Eguavoen, currently its Technical Director, as the Technical Adviser of the Super Eagles on an interim basis.

“This is with immediate effect and follows the termination of the relationship with Franco-German Gernot Rohr, who has been in charge of the three-time African champions for the past 64 months and is Nigeria’s longest-serving manager.”

Rohr was appointed as Nigeria’s coach in 2016, and during his time, he led the team to the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, where the Super Eagles finished third.

However, the former Burkina Faso manager has been under pressure for over a year due to the Super Eagles poor performances.

Although Nigeria qualified for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations and the World Cup playoffs under him this year, the general performance was not pleasing to watch, with many fans calling for his sack.

Following the completion of the second round of 2022 World Cup qualifiers, it was clear that Rohr’s position was untenable, and it was only a matter of time before he was sacked.

There had been rumours of his sack for weeks, but the NFF only confirmed it on Sunday night following a meeting with the Sports Minister last week.

Former Nigeria international Austin Eguavoen is now expected to lead the team to next year’s AFCON, which begins in less than a month in Cameroon.

Eguaoven is no stranger to the role as it will be his third spell as the head coach of the three-time African champions.

The former Gent defender was Nigeria’s coach between 2005-2007 before taking a caretaker role in 2010. He will be assisted by Salisu Yusuf, who was also Rohr’s assistant, Paul Aigbogun and Joseph Yobo.



Source: Soccernet.com