Football
KweséESPN Reporter 6y

Leon Balogun backs disciplinarian Gernot Rohr to get Super Eagles soaring

Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr may annoy his players at times, but the discipline imposed by the German is a major factor in the team's qualification for the World Cup, says Leon Balogun.

The Super Eagles were pitted in the 'Group of Death' in African qualifying, but made light work of Zambia, Algeria and African champions Cameroon in order to reach their sixth World Cup.

"He's different, he's German and it's maybe something Africans are not used to, but he is very focused on discipline," Germany-born Balogun told KweséESPN. "He needs structures, his way of thinking, his way of working.

"I think it gets annoying for some of the players and some of the staff sometimes because they are just not used to it, because everything has to be 100 percent.

"If one thing is a bit left, he's like 'no, no, I'm not having it'," the defender added, "but it gives us the structure in the games and I think you can clearly see his handwriting."

The 64-year-old Rohr is a former Bayern Munich midfielder, who coached French club Girondins de Bordeaux to the 1996 UEFA Cup final, and, in more recent years, was national coach of Burkina Faso, Gabon and Niger.

"I think he's done very, very well," Balogun continued. "He's very calm, he is experienced.

"He also know how to handle the African mentality because it is different from the European mentality, so, yes, he does a great job."

Since taking the helm of the Super Eagles, Rohr has lost just twice; against South Africa in an African Cup of Nations qualifier and against Serbia in a friendly during the recent international break.

"When he first came he told us 'nobody is expecting us to survive and to come out of this group as a World Cup contestant'," Balogun continued, "but he told us from the beginning that it was all about team spirit because we have such quality in the side.

"From the start he said we were at least on the same level as Algeria and Cameroon.

"It's just that people from outside were saying 'they are not going to make it, they haven't qualified for the last two Nations Cup finals and Nigeria isn't Nigeria anymore'," Balogun concluded. "I think we proved them wrong.

"As I said, our team spirit I think was the key and the coach, he really put focus on that point, growing together as a strong unit and that's what we did."

^ Back to Top ^