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Football

Nigerian Federation refuses to sack Rohr despite pressure

Nigeria Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick has reiterated his confidence in coach Gernot Rohr despite increasing pressure to let him go.

Update:
Soccer Football - Africa Under 23 Cup of Nations - Group B - Zambia U23 v Nigeria U23 - Al Salam Stadium, Cairo, Egypt - November 12, 2019   Nigeria's Kelechi Nwakali celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates    REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
MOHAMED ABD EL GHANYREUTERS

Nigeria fans have grown increasingly disgruntled over the recent form of their national team, who has gone four games without a victory leading Super Eagles lovers to demand the sacking of Gernot Rohr.

Anger on the Nigerian street has grown after the Super Eagles let a 4-0 lead slip out of their hands against Sierra Leone in the 2021 AFCON qualifiers as the visitors staged a magnificent comeback before the two team's second encounter ended scoreless.

However, the president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, defended the 67-year-old head coach and reiterated the NFF's intention to keep the faith with Rohr, who has been at the helm since 2016 "Nobody is happy about what happened against Sierra Leone in both matches. But it is not enough to sack the coach because his team is still top of the Nations Cup group after four matches" Pinnick told BBC Sport Africa.

Rohr retains backing of NFF

"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" Pinnick said.

Rohr has been in charge of the Super Eagles since August 2016 with a record of 29 victories,14 draws and 10 defeats, securing a third-placed finish at AFCON 2019. The German has recently been subject to criticism in Nigeria from the media, fans and former players over his tactics and choice of players.