Super Eagles Prove Finidi George’s Incapacity As Gernot Rohr’s Benin Beat Nigeria

For the second time in their history, The Cheetahs of Benin Republic defeated the Super Eagles of Nigeria earlier today, June 10, 2024.

Benin Republic, who don’t have a befitting stadium to play their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, hosted the Super Eagles of Nigeria at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan.

After recording three draws in their first 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification games, most football enthusiasts expected the Super Eagles to use the Benin Republic to record their first win in the campaign.

However, the Cheetahs who are being coached by German tactician, Gernot Rohr, who headed the Super Eagles of Nigeria for five years, proved too difficult to stop.

Coach Finidi George and his boys started the game a bit promising as they scored the opening goal of the match through the boots of Raphael Onyedika in the 27th minute.

Unfortunately, poor communication between Nigerian defenders allowed the Cheetahs to come back into the game in the 37th minute through the boots of Jodel Dossou.

Before the end of the first half, another erroneous play by the Super Eagles defence allowed the Benin Republic to score the second goal through a free header from Steve Mounie.

In the second half, coach Finidi George made a series of changes including bringing on Victor Boniface, Paul Onuachu, and Frank Onyeka, but their introduction into the game couldn’t make any difference.

The Nigerian side was completely out of ideas when they were around the Beninese penalty box as they kept struggling to communicate with each other. Their poor communication often forced two players to go for the same ball thereby making the Eagles’ attack meaningless.

At the end of the abysmal performance, the Super Eagles are left in the 5th spot in Group C and they could go bottom of the group if 6th-placed Zimbabwe beat South Africa on June 11.