Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr has suggested that captain Obi Mikel and another star player in the squad, Victor Moses, did not want to be deployed as a defensive midfielder and right wing-back respectively until he convinced them in the days leading up to the Super Eagles match with Iceland.
Rohr admitted that Iceland were the better team offensively in the first half, but did not take their chances, adding that his team clearly dominated the second stanza.
”In the second half, it was a different team because they realized halftime that we had to do much more,” Rohr said at Friday evening’s post-match press conference.
”We played against a very good team from Iceland. They were better in the first half but they didn’t score and we were better in the second half.
”I want to thank this team from Iceland for the fairness, for the good fight, the attitude they had even after the match.”
Rohr continued : ”The strategy today? You saw that we changed our organization, we played 3-5-2, Victor Moses played the role he does for Chelsea, the captain played the position he played for Chelsea before.
”I think it was good, they did it for their country, for the team. It was not easy to convince them but finally they did it well.
”In the second half, we had more space and the speed of Ahmed Musa was very interesting for us.”
The Super Eagles are second in the Group D standings with three points from two matches, three points behind pacesetters Croatia but two ahead of Iceland and Argentina.
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