Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr has revealed why Super Eagles lost 2-1 to Algeria in Sunday’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals game at Cairo International Stadium.
Three-time Africa Champions fought back from a goal deficit in the second half to hold Desert Foxes to a 1-1 draw until injury time where Manchester City forward Riyad Mahrez rose to the occasion and scored a free-kick in the last minute of the game to break Nigerian hearts.
The 66-year-old German tactician Rohr has given praise to Algeria’s ‘excellent pressing and better solutions in midfield.’ as told press via CAF in the post-match conference.
“They executed their pressing superbly and found good situations in the midfield. We could not find a solution and we could not locate our wingers.
“My team is still young and they will still improve tactically in the future and they will do it.”
instead of taking the game to Algeria for a late winner, the German coach added that his players dropped to hang on for extra-time but fell to an unstoppable goal. “We are sad we lost, the players played for extra time but we lost in the last minute to a good goal.
“They were better in the first half but we conceded an own goal and lost in the last minute. We are sad but congratulations to the winners,” Rohr added.
Nigeria will face Tunisia in Wednesday’s third-place encounter at the Al-Salam Stadium in Cairo.
AFCON 2019: Rohr Reveals Why Super Eagles Lost 2-1 to Algeria
