Following the 1-1 draw with Cape Verde that saw the Super Eagle of Nigeria a playoff ticket to the World Cup, Gernot Rohr has come out to say the Super Eagles 1-1 draw against Cape Verde feels like a win for his team.
The Eagles got the first goal in the first minute of the game through Victor Osimhen after a poor clearance by a Cape Verde player. But the visitors equalized almost immediately from a corner through Stopira. The draw saw the three-time African champions qualify into the playoff round with 13 points.
And fielding questions after the game, Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr praised his players for holding out after failing to get the winner. According to the German, he said: “First of all, a draw can be like a victory, for today because we wanted to qualify and knew that a draw means qualification. It was not an easy game because Cape Verde are a good technical team, and they scored at the moment we believed we had the match in our hands.”
He also said: “But we missed a lot of chances in the first half especially, we deserve to score a second goal, but it didn’t come so we had to defend, and the players did it well.” Regarding the newcomer Odion Ighalo, Gernot Rhor said the team needs to be patient with the striker. Nigeria will now wait for Sunday to know ow who they will be drawn to play the playoff.