Rohr attributes yesterday's embarrassing loss to absence of midfielders Ndidi and Iwobi

SUPER Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr has used the excuse of midfielders Wilfred Ndidi and Alex Iwobi not playing to justify Nigeria's shocking loss to the Central African Republic in a World Cup qualifier yesterday.

On a development that shook global football to its very foundations, Nigeria succumbed to a 90th minute goal in Lagos yesterday, losing a game which on paper should have been an easy victory. Seeking to justify the defeat, Mr Rohr said the absence of several key players was responsible for the team not playing as well as it should have.

Mr Rohr said: "We missed the creativity of Iwobi and we also missed Ndidi so much. It was not easy for Frank Onyeka and a first-timer Taiwo Awoniyi to come in this team.

"The players are still disappointed in the dressing room and still not understanding why we could lose this match. When we analysed it, we dominated possession of the ball, we had several opportunities to score but we did not score and very often in football, there was a counter and our opponents scored."

Mr Rohr's new contract stipulates he guides the Super Eagles to the 2021 Nations Cup and the 2022 Fifa World Cup, which looks dicey at the moment. If he fails to qualify the team for Qatar 2022, Mr Rohr is undoubtedly going to be sacked.