The Coach of Benin, Gernot Rohr, regretted that the dream of his team getting to the World Cup had been ruined by the 0-4 defeat at the hands of the Super Eagles.
Nigeria defeated Benin 4-0 on Tuesday at the Godswill Akpabio stadium to keep up hope of qualifying for the World Cup via the playoffs. Osimhen’s hat-trick and Frank Onyeka’s last-minute goal were all the Super Eagles needed to move to the next qualification round.
Had Benin defeated Nigeria, they would have qualified for the World Cup, as they were the group leaders before the last round of matches.
Rohr acknowledged that the Super Eagles had experienced and talented players, which gave them victory in the match.
He said that the Cheetahs were young players with less experience, but played very good football.
“There was a big disappointment because we wanted to go to the World Cup, also with Beninois for the first time in history, but we could not,” Rohr, a former coach of Nigeria, said.
“You know, we don’t have enough players of high level.
“As you know, we have some players who started the match; they don’t even have clubs; we also have players who play in the 5th division in France, but I am proud of my team.
“They did very well in this World Cup qualifier, but until the last game today. I am very happy to be the coach of this team.
“It is a young team; there are still things to learn. They started with a goal in the first minutes,” Rohr said.