Rohr Didn’t Carry Tech Committee Along – Lawal

Former Super Eagles winger, Garba ‘Chindo’ Lawal, who is now a member of the technical committee of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), has disclosed that national team coach, Gernot Rohr did not carry the body along before releasing his list of 23 players for the World Cup.

In what might be an inference of Rohr’s attempt to render the technical committee redundant and their apparent readiness to fire back, Lawal stressed that none of the members knew anything about Nigeria’s World Cup list before it was made public on Sunday.

The former defensive midfielder, who made top marks playing in Holland during his hay day, frowned at the exclusion of Uche Agbo from the list and inclusion of Eddy Ogenyi Onazi, but submitted that Rohr should be ready to take responsibility for his decisions.

The France ’98 World Cup star, who scored in an opening group 3-2 win against Spain, said: “I got to know about the list on the social media like every other Nigerian.

“I was surprised that the technical committee was not told about the list before it was made public.

“I am particularly sad that a player like Uche Agbo, who played week in, week out for his club, Standard Liege of Belgium was not given a chance to prove his worth.

“This guy is a utility player, who as a defensive midfielder, can also operate as a defender in the middle and at both wings.

“Yet such talent was dropped without a look in. I still believe there are qualities in the team that can make us proud in Russia.

“It seems we don’t know what we are doing. Rohr is the one that can answer Nigerians why members like Fanny Amun, Victor Ikpeba, Mutiu Adepoju were not consulted.

“At this moment, whether we say yes to Rohr’s list or not, there is nothing we can do again since the final squad has be named,” Lawal concluded.