NFF President Pinnick Backs Rohr To Keep Super Eagles' Job

The Nigerian Football Federation NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, has backed German tactician Gernot Rohr to keep his job despite the pressure to sack him.

Pinnick insisted there was no reason to sack the German coach despite the pressure on social media to dismiss him due to lack of precision in front of goal which almost cost Nigeria a place in the World Cup playoffs.

The German tactician has been in charge of the Nigerian national team since 2016 and recently signed a new two-year contract after satisfying his bosses at the NFF.

He guided the West Africans to the 2018 World Cup in Russia with ease and led the side to finish third at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations Egypt.

Nigeria’s Minister of Sports and Youth Development Sunday Dare also expressed his displeasure with the run of not-too impressive performances, questioning the competency and the suitability of the 67-year-old.

Pinnick, has, however, come to the defence of Rohr, highlighting the stats of the Super Eagles since he took charge of the three-time African champions. 

"Nobody is happy about what happened against Sierra Leone in both matches," Pinnick told BBC Sport Africa.

"But it is not enough to sack the coach because his team is still top of the Nations Cup group after four matches.

"His statistics speak volumes for him, so on what indexes do we want to sack him considering the contract recently signed by both parties.

"No matter how emotional and disappointed the fans are, there's no basis to sack him now and he deserves to keep his job.

"When you look at his performance, where he has won 29 matches, drew 14, and lost 10, you can say that is enough to back him.

"Yes, the performance in the last two games has not gone down well with some people, but we need to be professional, honest, and respectful in how we analyse things."

Despite the draw against Sierra Leone, Nigeria still maintain their lead on the top of Group L of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying table with eight points from four games.

The Super Eagles will next take on the Republic of Benin and Lesotho in their last two games in the qualifying campaign in March 2021.