Okpala calls out Rohr over Eagles players’ comments

African Cup of Nations winner and former assistant coach of the national team, Sylvanus Okpala has called out coach Gernot Rohr over his comments on the chances of the Super Eagles getting to the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The Super Eagles gaffer in a recent interview with ESPN said players in the national team lacked the quality to reach the semi-finals of the Qatar 2022 World Cup because most of them were not playing in top European clubs.

Okpala said such comments from Rohr were unbecoming of a coach, saying the Franco-German degraded his players before the media. Rohr should not have made these kinds of comments because it would demoralize the players,” Okpala told The PUNCH.

“He’s supposed to play the role of father-figure to the boys because they all look up to him for encouragement. Does it mean that when you don’t play in the top clubs you can’t do better than those who play there?

“Most of the Cameroon team to the 1982 World Cup in Spain were not playing with top clubs, but they performed well at the competition.“Rohr is a good coach but he should not relegate his players because the job of the coach is to turn his players to the best through encouragement.”