Tyronne Ebuehi said to be unhappy with Rohr for not introducing him against Argentina

SUPER Eagles fullback Tyronne Ebuehi is apparently unhappy with team manager Gernot Rohr for restricting him to one match at the World Cup despite his red hot form which saw him dazzle whenever he took to the pitch.

Ebuehi, 22, who has just signed for Portuguese giants Benfica, is considered a very exciting prospect as he is quick, strong and highly mobile. His runs up and down the flanks have made him a favourite with Super Eagles fans and his performances in games that he played has left many wondering why he did not feature more during the World Cup.

Coach Rohr only used Ebuehi once during the tournament, introducing him in the second half in the 2-0 victory over Iceland. Ebuehi, who has a Nigerian father and a Dutch mother, pledged his international future to Nigeria  in 2017 after initially rejecting Rohr’s  invite to play in the Super Eagles’ World Cup qualifier against Algeria in Uyo on December 11, 2016.

Since then, however, the fullback, who is capable of playing at left-back or right-back, has been a revelation and was a constant threat down the left as he burst into the final third when he came in for  Brian Idowu  in Iceland match. Many Nigerian fans  were left fuming after  Coach Rohr ended 1-2 loss to Argentina with Ebuehi idling away on the bench.

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi scored a  splendid  goal through Idowu's wing after receiving a pass from Ever Banega before beating Nigeria goalkeeper Francis Uzoho from a tight angle  to open the scoring for  Argentina. However, Rohr, the 64-year-old German coach defended his decision, insisting Idowu deserved to end the encounter.

Rohr said: “Idowu was very solid in the team. He’s much better defensively and did very well against Messi.

"He has experience and can play on both sides of the flanks. Ebuehi is a fantastic player offensively and he played well against Iceland but he is still very young and still learning and will definitely improve defensively and become a very important player for the team in the future.”

Apparently, Ebuehi was angry as the Eagles, who were in pole position to go through, continued to make mistakes trying to defend deep and then hit the desperate Argentines on the counterattack, instead of taking the game to them. He was visibly angry as he stormed out of the dressing room into the Mixed Zone where he snubbed the journalists who requested interviews with him after the match.

Apparently, some of the  players were not happy with Rohr’s  instructions to launch attacks when the match was tied at 1-1 in the dying minutes, which was enough for them to go through  as they were tired. They felt Argentina's manager Jorge Sampaoli seized initiative by  replacing holding midfielder Enzo Perez with  Boca Junior forward Cristian Pavon  in the 62nd minute, and substituting winger Angel Di Maria with Maximiliano Meza in the  73rd minute before sending on Sergio Aguero for Nicolas Tagliafico in the 81st minute.